Accounting Policies - Additional Information (Detail)	12 Months Ended			192 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) Hospital Claim State Surgery_Center	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) Claims	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) Hospital Claim State Surgery_Center
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of owned and operated hospitals | Hospital	170			170
Number of freestanding surgery centers | Surgery_Center	118			118
Number of facilities locations | State	20			20
General and administrative expense	$ 373,000,000	$ 327,000,000	$ 285,000,000
Adjustments to estimated reimbursement filed during respective year	31,000,000	48,000,000	50,000,000
Adjustments to estimated reimbursement filed during previous years	$ 90,000,000	$ 85,000,000	$ 53,000,000
Percentage of the sum of revenues, uninsured discounts and charity care	33.00%	31.50%	30.20%
Outstanding checks unpresented for payment	$ 565,000,000	$ 517,000,000		$ 565,000,000
Allowance for doubtful accounts percentage of accounts receivable	97.50%	94.50%
Allowance for doubtful accounts	$ 5,116,000,000	$ 5,636,000,000		5,116,000,000
Days revenues in accounts receivable	50 days	53 days	54 days
Depreciation expense	$ 1,946,000,000	$ 1,880,000,000	$ 1,798,000,000
Goodwill impairments	0	0	0	102,000,000
Goodwill acquired during period	41,000,000	323,000,000
Intangible assets increased		22,000,000
Intangible assets decreased	19,000,000	22,000,000
Gross carrying amount of intangible assets	184,000,000	184,000,000
Accumulated amortization of intangible assets	79,000,000	60,000,000		79,000,000
Gross carrying amount of indefinite-lived intangible assets	269,000,000	269,000,000		269,000,000
Deferred loan costs	334,000,000	318,000,000		334,000,000
Deferred loan costs, accumulated amortization	164,000,000	151,000,000		164,000,000
Amortization of debt issuance costs	34,000,000	35,000,000	42,000,000
Reserves for professional liability risks	1,539,000,000	1,465,000,000		1,539,000,000
Current portion of professional liability risks reserves	391,000,000	350,000,000		$ 391,000,000
Provisions for losses related to professional liability risks	$ 430,000,000	$ 344,000,000	395,000,000
Reserves for professional liability risks cover individual claims	2,700	2,700		2,700
Net payments of professional and general liability claims	$ 357,000,000	$ 305,000,000
Self-insured retention amount per occurrence	15,000,000
Maximum amount losses per occurrence	50,000,000
Reinsurance for professional liability risks retention level of amount per occurrence	25,000,000
Amounts receivable under reinsurance contracts recorded in other assets	36,000,000	35,000,000		$ 36,000,000
Amounts receivable under reinsurance contracts recorded in other current assets	9,000,000	9,000,000		$ 9,000,000
Electronic health record incentive income	$ 12,000,000	47,000,000	$ 125,000,000
Insurance Subsidiary [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Insurance subsidiary ownership percentage	100.00%			100.00%
Sales, Foreign Currency Translation and Other [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Goodwill increase (decrease)	$ (49,000,000)
Foreign Currency Translation And Other [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Goodwill increase (decrease)		$ (2,000,000)
Maximum [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Percentage of income of federal poverty level eligible for charity care	200.00%
Finite lived intangible asset useful life	10 years
Maximum [Member] | Building and Improvements [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Estimated useful lives in years	40 years
Maximum [Member] | Equipment [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Estimated useful lives in years	10 years
Minimum [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Finite lived intangible asset useful life	3 years
Minimum [Member] | Building and Improvements [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Estimated useful lives in years	10 years
Minimum [Member] | Equipment [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Estimated useful lives in years	4 years