Accounting Policies - Additional Information (Detail) $ in Millions	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Nov. 30, 2017	Dec. 31, 2021 USD ($) Hospital Endoscopy_Center State Claim Surgery_Center	Dec. 31, 2020 USD ($) Claim	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($)
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of owned and operated hospitals | Hospital		182
Number of freestanding surgery centers | Surgery_Center		125
Number of freestanding endoscopy centers | Endoscopy_Center		21
Number of facilities locations | State		20
General and administrative expense		$ 400	$ 416	$ 370
Adjustments to estimated reimbursement filed during respective year		53	70	51
Adjustments to estimated reimbursement filed during previous years		(19)	5	13
Estimated implicit price concessions recorded as reductions to revenues and accounts receivable		6,784	6,108
Charity care amount		13,644	13,763	13,260
Estimated costs of charity care		1,542	1,652	$ 1,591
Outstanding checks unpresented for payment		$ 536	$ 495
Days revenues in accounts receivable		49 days	45 days	50 days
Depreciation expense		$ 2,826	$ 2,693	$ 2,579
Goodwill impairments		0	0	0
Goodwill acquired during period		1,002	279
Intangible assets increased		60	65
Intangible assets decreased due to amortization and other adjustments		25	26
Gross carrying amount of intangible assets		274	249
Accumulated amortization of intangible assets		175	149
Gross carrying amount of indefinite-lived intangible assets		304	269
Deferred loan costs		446	411
Deferred loan costs, accumulated amortization		198	175
Amortization of debt issuance costs		27	30	30
Reserves for professional liability risks		2,022	1,963
Current portion of professional liability risks reserves		508	477
Provisions for losses related to professional liability risks		453	435	497
Decrease in provision for professional liability risks		$ 87	$ 112	$ 50
Reserves for professional liability risks cover individual claims | Claim		2,300	2,100
Net payments of professional and general liability claims		$ 384	$ 292
Self-insured retention amount per occurrence		15
Maximum amount losses per occurrence		75
Reinsurance for professional liability risks retention minimum level of amount per occurrence		25
Reinsurance for professional liability risks retention level of amount per occurrence		35
Amounts receivable under reinsurance contracts recorded in other assets		44	31
Amounts receivable under reinsurance contracts recorded in other current assets		11	8
Foreign Currency Translation And Other [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Goodwill increase (decrease)		$ 75	$ 9
Inpatient Services [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Performance obligations for inpatient/ outpatient services satisfied period		Our performance obligations for inpatient services are generally satisfied over periods that average approximately five days
Maximum [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Percentage of income of federal poverty level eligible for charity care	400.00%
Finite lived intangible asset useful life		10 years
Maximum [Member] | Outpatient Services [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Performance obligations for inpatient/ outpatient services satisfied period		Our performance obligations for outpatient services are generally satisfied over a period of less than one day
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