HCA Healthcare Gifts $650,000 to Savannah State University

HCA Healthcare’s South Atlantic Division announced recently that HCA Healthcare will give $650,000 to Savannah State University (SSU) to support a paid internship program for students pursuing a master’s degree in social work. This gift is part of HCA Healthcare’s larger commitment to give $10 million over three years to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs).

Funds from this gift will go towards paid internships for two Master of Social Work cohorts over four years that will help students complete the required 900 clinical hours needed for their degree at Memorial Health University Medical Center. Through the cohort, students will have access to job shadowing opportunities and mentors through HCA Healthcare. This gift will also provide a stipend for a preceptor for the program, who will serve as a liaison between Memorial Health University Medical Center and SSU.

Founded in 1890, SSU is the first public HBCU in Georgia and the first higher education institution in Savannah, Georgia. The university serves an increasingly diverse student population with more than 3,000 students from across the state and beyond. The university’s Master of Social Work Program is accredited by the Council on Social Work Education and designed to prepare students for entry into advanced social work practice.

HCA Healthcare has a history of partnering with higher education institutions across the country to help create a more diverse workforce. Recently, HCA Healthcare gave $200,000 to St. Mary’s University to support their Greehey School of Business. Last fall, HCA Healthcare gave $620,000 to the University of California, Riverside (UCR) to support scholarship for students in the UCR School of Medicine. In 2022, HCA Healthcare gave $1.5 million to Tennessee State University (TSU) to create scholarship opportunities for undergraduate and graduate school students pursuing careers in healthcare and computer science and $1.5 million to Fisk University to support scholarships for students pursuing healthcare careers and a dual degree with Galen College of Nursing.