Ocala Hospital and West Marion Hospital join HCA Florida Healthcare's community volunteerism effort
Ocala, FL — HCA Florida Ocala Hospital and HCA Florida West Marion Hospital colleagues participated in HCA Florida Healthcare’s annual statewide We Show Up for Our Communities initiative by serving at Interfaith Emergency Services in Ocala.
Held during National Volunteer Month in April, We Show Up for Our Communities is part of HCA Healthcare’s enterprise-wide commitment to address needs and to donate time and resources to communities where our physicians and hospital colleagues live and work.
On April 17, 55 colleagues and volunteers from HCA Florida Ocala Hospital and HCA West Marion Hospital assisted staff and volunteers at Interfaith in different areas: packing backpacks for the Food 4 Kids program, which provides food over the weekend for students who are at risk for not having enough to eat; sorting and tagging clothing available for sale at Interfaith’s thrift store; gathering and bagging personal hygiene items that are provided to Interfaith clients; and sorting and loading food items at Interfaith’s distribution warehouse.
“Our mission at HCA Florida Healthcare is to care for and improve human life. We do that every day for our patients inside our facilities. On ‘We Show Up Day’ and at multiple events throughout the year, we expand that mission into the community to meet additional needs,” explained Alan Keesee, chief executive officer of HCA Florida Ocala Hospital. “We know that each day, Interfaith provides valuable services to some of our community’s most vulnerable residents. We were honored to ‘show up’ to help support this important community partner in that vital work.”
“’We Show Up Day’ is a special day for us at HCA Florida Ocala Hospital and HCA Florida West Marion Hospital. It’s a moment for our colleagues and our volunteers to come together to aid an esteemed community partner,” said Isaiah Zirkle, HCA Florida West Marion Hospital CEO. “It was our pleasure today to further Interfaith’s efforts in serving others who are in need.”
“The energy and assistance that the HCA Florida Healthcare teams brought to every area of our campus today was like a shot in the arm to our staff,” said Karla Greenway, chief executive officer of Interfaith Emergency Services. “Every team member here does the workload of about three people and often get weary. It is such a blessing to have a group like HCA Florida Healthcare come in and lighten their load even for a day. I could tell by the smiles on their faces that our staff felt the relief. Today was truly a gift to our staff and the people that we serve.”
As Florida's leading healthcare network, HCA Florida Healthcare is committed to creating healthier tomorrows for communities across the state by volunteering our time, making charitable donations and partnering with other organizations. In 2024, HCA Florida Healthcare colleagues from 650 facilities volunteered more than 38,000 hours and committed nearly $1.2 million to community partner organizations in the Sunshine State.