8-K

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of The Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): September 30, 2008 (September 24, 2008)

HCA INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)

Delaware	001-11239	75-2497104
(State or other jurisdiction	(Commission	(IRS Employer
of incorporation)	File Number)	Identification No.)

One Park Plaza, Nashville, Tennessee	37203
(Address of principal executive offices)	(Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (615) 344-9551

Not applicable

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

     Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):

o Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

o Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

o Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

o Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Item 5.02. Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.

Retirement of Jack O. Bovender, Jr. from Position as Chief Executive Officer of the Company

     On September 29, 2008, HCA Inc. (the “Company”) announced that Jack O. Bovender, Jr., Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Company, will retire from his position as Chief Executive Officer effective December 31, 2008. Mr. Bovender will remain with the Company as the executive Chairman until December 15, 2009, at which time Mr. Bovender will also resign from the Board of Directors of the Company. A copy of the press release issued by the Company relating to Mr. Bovender’s retirement is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1 and incorporated herein by reference.

Appointment of Richard M. Bracken as Chief Executive Officer and President of the Company

     In conjunction with Mr. Bovender’s retirement, the Board of Directors appointed Richard M. Bracken as the Chief Executive Officer and President of the Company effective January 1, 2009. Mr. Bracken has previously served as President and Chief Operating Officer of the Company since January 2002 and Chief Operating Officer of the Company since July 2001. In addition, Mr. Bracken served as President — Western Group of the Company from August 1997 until July 2001. From January 1995 to August 1997, Mr. Bracken served as President of the Pacific Division of the Company. Prior to 1995, Mr. Bracken served in various hospital Chief Executive Officer and Administrator positions with HCA-Hospital Corporation of America.

     The information required by Item 5.02(c)(2) of Form 8-K regarding Mr. Bracken is contained in the Company’s Annual Report Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2007 filed with the SEC on March 28, 2008 and is incorporated herein by reference.

     Mr. Bracken’s compensation as Chief Executive Officer and President has not yet been determined.

     A copy of the press release issued by the Company relating to Mr. Bracken’s appointment as the Company’s next Chief Executive Officer is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1 and incorporated herein by reference.

Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.

     (d) Exhibits:

     Exhibit 99.1      Press Release, dated September 29, 2008.

SIGNATURES

     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

HCA INC.
By:	/s/ R. Milton Johnson
Name:	R. Milton Johnson
Title:	Executive Vice President and Chief Financial      Officer

Date: September 30, 2008

EXHIBIT INDEX

Exhibit 99.1      Press Release, dated September 29, 2008.

EX-99.1

Exhibit 99.1

news

	FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
INVESTOR CONTACT:	MEDIA CONTACT:
Mark Kimbrough	Ed Fishbough
615-344-2688	615-344-2810

HCA CEO Bovender Announces Retirement, Bracken to Become CEO
Bovender will Remain Chairman

Nashville, Tenn., September 29, 2008 – Jack O. Bovender, Jr., chairman and CEO of HCA Inc., announced today he will retire as CEO of the company at the end of this year and remain as executive chairman and a member of the board of directors until December of 2009. Richard M. Bracken, HCA’s president and chief operating officer, will remain as president and take the helm as CEO on January 1, 2009, in accordance with the company’s existing succession plan.

Bovender, who has over 30 years of experience with HCA, returned to the company from retirement in 1997 to help then-chairman and CEO Dr. Thomas F. Frist, Jr. return Columbia/HCA, then under a federal investigation, to HCA’s cultural roots and reinforce the “patients-first” philosophy on which HCA was founded. Under their leadership, the company underwent a significant reorganization – including implementation of a world-class ethics and compliance program and two publicly-traded spin-offs of assets – and streamlined operations.

During Bovender’s tenure as CEO, the company undertook the single largest purchase of a non-profit system with the acquisition of Health Midwest, now HCA Midwest, and developed and implemented the organization’s shared services initiative, a major cost-savings strategy that leveraged the company’s size and scope by reducing unnecessary overhead through consolidation of business office functions and rationalized supply chain services. Bovender also led the company’s now well-documented evacuation of Tulane Medical Center during Hurricane Katrina. The company reopened the facility in February of 2006. That same year, the company successfully completed a plan to go private in what became the largest leveraged buyout of its time.

“I have had the pleasure of spending virtually my entire career with the best healthcare organization in the world,” said Bovender. “But now it’s time to begin the process of succession. We are extremely fortunate to have Richard Bracken, an exceptionally qualified and experienced healthcare executive, as my successor. In choosing Richard, we are assured the culture we have so firmly ingrained at HCA will continue. His strong operations management experience and understanding of HCA’s impact in the communities it serves are exactly what we need in our next leader.”

In addressing Bovender’s retirement, Frist, an HCA board member and with his family a significant owner of HCA, said, “Jack Bovender’s leadership and knowledge have helped build HCA into a powerhouse in the healthcare sector. His caring nature and strong integrity reflect the

vision my father, Jack Massey and I began with — to serve patients, partners and communities with compassion and kindness. With Richard Bracken as Jack’s successor, we are confident the legacy of our founders will continue. Richard’s experience and keen judgment provide an assurance that HCA will continue as a leader in the hospital industry and a pacesetter for solutions in healthcare.”

Bracken has 30 years of experience in the hospital industry, and has worked with HCA for 27 years in leadership positions at the facility, state and regional levels before taking on his current role. One of his first positions in the company was as CEO of Centennial Medical Center, the company’s flagship hospital in its hometown market of Nashville, TN.

Bracken stated, “I have had the good fortune to have spent most of my career with HCA and the last seven years working in partnership with Jack Bovender. I have a strong sense of the market dynamics in which we operate and the culture that pervades everything we do. I am honored to be chosen as HCA’s next CEO, and I look forward to working with our physicians, partners and all our HCA colleagues to continue to grow and improve our healthcare organizations.” Bracken and his wife, Judith, reside in Nashville and have four grown children.

HCA and its affiliates operate 159 hospitals, 99 ambulatory surgery centers and five endoscopy centers in 19 states and England, including eight hospitals, eight ambulatory surgery centers and one endoscopy center operated through equity method joint ventures.

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All references to “Company” and “HCA” as used throughout this document refer to HCA Inc and
its affiliates.