The ride home: HCA Healthcare brings colleague home for healing

For 40 years, Rick has dedicated his life to healthcare. Most of his career has been spent in emergency medical services and he now works part-time as an RN at HCA HealthONE Central Park ER and a PRN critical care paramedic with HCA HealthONE AirLife EMS. Caring for patients has always been second nature to him. This summer, however, Rick found himself in the unexpected position of being the patient in need of care.

In early June, Rick was riding in the AIDS/LifeCycle event, a 550-mile cycling journey in California from San Francisco to Los Angeles. On the sixth day of the grueling ride, only a few miles from finishing the day’s course, Rick looked toward the ocean. “I got distracted by a windsurfer, and in that moment, my bike went off the path. I tried to correct myself, but ended up crashing,” Rick explained.

His Apple Watch automatically detected the crash and called 911 and soon fellow cyclists were by his side. Within minutes, emergency providers were on scene and transported Rick to Ventura County Medical Center, where the trauma team stabilized him. The injuries were severe: broken ribs, a fractured sternum, a punctured lung and a separated shoulder.

While grateful for the treatment from the local hospital, Rick said, “I was more than 1,000 miles away from my Denver home with a chest tube in place. I started wondering how I was going to manage my recovery and follow-up care from California.”

He decided to reach out to colleagues at HCA HealthONE Central Park ER for guidance. That’s when a fellow RN mentioned an employee benefit that could help him get home. “They told me HCA Healthcare had an emergency medical transport program for employees who are on our insurance. I hadn’t heard of this and didn’t know if it applied to me, but I figured it was worth a try.”

To Rick’s relief, the program confirmed he was eligible right away. “All I had to do was give them my name and date of birth. They said, ‘you’re on the list, we’ll come and pick you up.’ It was that simple.”

Once HCA HealthONE Swedish, a Level 1 Trauma Center close to home, agreed to accept his transfer, arrangements were made. The next morning, a transport team including a respiratory therapist, flight nurse and ambulance crew arrived at his bedside. They took him to the airfield where a medical jet was waiting. From there, Rick was flown to Denver and taken straight to HCA HealthONE Swedish to continue his care.

“It was such a relief to be home and be in an HCA Healthcare hospital,” Rick said. “The team in California gave me the care I needed, but at HCA HealthONE Swedish, I felt that extra compassion and attentiveness we’re known for. It felt like being cared for by family.”

Just five weeks later, Rick returned to his role at HCA HealthONE Central Park ER. “I probably could have stayed out longer, but I wanted to get back. My team supported me through it all and I wanted to rejoin them.”

Looking back, Rick believes every HCA Healthcare employee should know about this benefit. “It was there when I needed it most,” he said. “It brought me home to my care team and my support system— and that made all the difference.”