HCA Healthcare has completed its acquisition of the College of Health Care Professions, expanding the hospital operator’s role in educating workers for the US healthcare sector.
The deal, completed Sept. 15, brings more than 8000 students, 10 Texas campuses and online programs into HCA Healthcare. CHCP offers more than 20 accredited healthcare programs and has prepared more than 52000 students for healthcare careers since it was founded in 1988.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
For HCA, the transaction adds to an education network that already includes nursing schools and hundreds of graduate medical education programs. It also expands the company’s presence in allied health education at a time when employers are preparing for sustained demand for trained workers.
The acquisition matters beyond its immediate size. Healthcare providers face the long-term task of finding enough qualified people to meet rising patient demand. Education gives large employers another way to become involved earlier in the workforce pipeline.
The wider question is whether other healthcare systems will take a similar approach.
Healthcare demand is putting more pressure on the talent pipeline
The US healthcare workforce is expected to grow much faster than the labor market as a whole over the next decade.
Healthcare and social assistance employment is projected to grow 8.4% between 2024 and 2034, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Total employment is projected to grow 3.1% over the same period.
That equates to nearly 2 million additional healthcare and social assistance jobs, more than any other industry sector covered by the projections. Healthcare support occupations are expected to grow 12.4%, while healthcare practitioner and technical occupations are projected to increase 7.2%.
Demographics are part of the reason. BLS expects an aging population and higher rates of chronic illness to increase demand for healthcare services. Older populations also tend to need more long-term care and therapy services.
For healthcare employers, rising demand creates a practical workforce problem. New hospitals, clinics and services cannot operate at planned capacity without enough trained staff.
Many of the fastest-growing roles sit outside the physician workforce. Physical therapist assistants are among the occupations expected to record strong employment growth. Healthcare support occupations as a group are projected to grow four times faster than total employment.
CHCP operates in this part of the labor market.
The college focuses on allied healthcare education and offers routes into healthcare careers for adult learners. Its scale gives HCA an established education platform without requiring the company to build programs and campuses from the ground up.
The acquisition does not mean CHCP graduates will necessarily work in HCA facilities. HCA has not announced such a requirement. It does, however, give the company a larger position in the education system that prepares people for healthcare careers.
HCA is building education into its workforce infrastructure
HCA was already active in healthcare education before buying CHCP.
The company supports nursing education through Galen College of Nursing, Research College of Nursing and Mercy School of Nursing. It also sponsors more than 365 graduate medical education programs across 87 hospitals.
CHCP broadens that education footprint.
The two organizations also have an established relationship. HCA said they have worked together for decades through program advisory boards, clinical sites and career placement.
For large health systems, this model changes where workforce planning can begin.
Traditional recruitment usually starts when people are already qualified or approaching the end of their education. A healthcare company with investments in education can become involved earlier, when students are selecting programs, receiving practical training and preparing to enter the workforce.
That may become more important as competition for healthcare workers continues.
Education ownership is only one approach. Hospital groups can also work with community colleges, universities and specialist training organizations. They can also develop internal programs for existing employees.
The broader shift is that workforce planning is extending beyond recruitment.
There is also a regional element to HCA’s acquisition. CHCP’s 10 physical campuses are in Texas, giving the institution an established presence in one of the country’s largest healthcare markets.
CHCP has also sought to measure its economic role in the state. A Lightcast study covering fiscal 2023-24 estimated that CHCP and its alumni generated $1.5 billion in added income for the Texas economy and supported more than 14000 jobs.
Those figures were published by CHCP and came from a study commissioned by the college, so they should be read in that context.
The deal may signal a wider change in workforce planning
The HCA acquisition highlights a broader issue facing healthcare employers.
Hiring alone cannot create trained healthcare workers. Employers depend on schools, colleges and other training providers to prepare people with the skills and credentials needed for patient care.
As demand rises, the capacity of those education systems matters more.
Large providers have several options. They can compete for workers after qualification, invest in training existing employees, form closer partnerships with education providers or take a direct ownership position.
HCA now uses several of those approaches.
The CHCP acquisition adds allied health education to a portfolio that already includes nursing education and graduate medical training. It also brings an established education provider into a healthcare company with a large network of hospitals and other care sites.
There are limits to what can be inferred from one transaction. HCA has not said the acquisition is a model for other hospital groups. Ownership of a college also does not address every factor behind healthcare staffing pressures.
However, the labor projections provide important context. Healthcare and social assistance is expected to add more jobs than any other US industry sector through 2034. Healthcare support occupations are also among the faster-growing occupational groups.
That puts more attention on how workers enter the industry and how quickly education providers can prepare them.
For healthcare executives, workforce planning may increasingly begin well before a vacancy appears. HCA’s acquisition of CHCP shows how one major provider is moving earlier into that process by linking healthcare education more closely with the organizations that will need those skills.
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