HCA Healthcare, Inc.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to HCA Healthcare's first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. Today's call is being recorded. At this time for opening remarks and introductions, I would like to turn the call over to Vice President of Investor Relations, Mr. Frank Morgan. Please go ahead, sir.

Good morning and welcome to everyone on today's call. With me this morning is our CEO Sam Payson and CFO Mike Marks. Sam and Mike will provide some prepared remarks and then we'll take questions. Before I turn the call over to Sam, let me remind everyone that should today's call contain any forward-looking statements, they're based on management's current expectations. Numerous risks, uncertainties, and other factors may cause actual results to differ materially from those that might be expressed today. More information on forward-looking statements and these factors are listed in today's press release and in our various SEC files. On this morning's call, we may reference measures such as adjusted EBITDA, which is a non-GAAP financial measure. A table providing supplemental information on adjusted EBITDA and reconciling net income attributable to HCA Healthcare, Inc. is included in today's release. This morning's call is being recorded and a replay of the call will be available later today. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Sam.

Good morning and thank you for joining the call. First, I want to recognize our colleagues for continuing to demonstrate a remarkable ability to adapt to changing conditions and deliver positive results for our patients, communities, and stakeholders. The start of the year presented a dynamic environment for HCA Healthcare. From a volume perspective, we did not experience the typical lift related to seasonal respiratory conditions. Compared to the first quarter of last year, our respiratory-related admissions were down 42%, and our respiratory-related emergency room visits were down 32%. Additionally, the storm that hit a few of our markets adversely impacted our volumes in the quarter. On the positive side, however, we experienced a greater net benefit than anticipated from state supplemental programs. As a reminder, these programs are complex They're variable and difficult to predict. This benefit mostly offset impacts from the shortfall in volumes. Regarding payer mix for the quarter, the underlying shifts resulting from the changes in the health insurance exchanges were generally in line with our expectations. This area remains fluid. As we stated in our fourth quarter call, we have considered a range of potential scenarios as the effects continue to evolve. As mentioned, over the last several quarters, our teams have been focused on a broad resiliency plan designed to generate cost savings where appropriate, enhance network execution, and strengthen organizational capabilities. I'm pleased with our resiliency efforts to date, and we expect they will continue to help offset some of the expected impact from the payer mix shift. Additionally, we were pleased with the volume results exiting the quarter. The respiratory-related and winter storm impacts were mostly contained to January, with February and March volumes rebounding nicely. For the first quarter, revenue increased 4.3% compared to the first quarter last year. Adjusted EBITDA increased almost 2%, and diluted earnings per share, as adjusted, increased approximately 11% versus the prior year period. We continue to deliver for our patients in important metrics, including improved quality measures, increased patient satisfaction, and reductions in average length of stay. I remain excited about our digital transformation program and AI agenda. They progress during the quarter with rollout of some key initiatives to more facilities. Our clinical teams continue to advance efforts to enhance quality, safety, and services to our patients with progress on broad initiatives across nursing care, hospital-based physician services, and support functions. We continue to invest significantly in network development with our capital spending and with selective outpatient facility acquisitions. As compared to the first quarter last year, our networks expanded their overall sites of care by more than 4%, increased hospital beds through capital spending by almost 1%, and added 4% to emergency room capacity. To summarize, we view the respiratory-related volume shortfall and the increase in supplemental payment net benefits as first-quarter events as As such, we believe our assumptions for the remainder of the year related to volumes, payer mix, and costs continue to remain in line with our original guidance. HVA Healthcare has an impressive capability to remain disciplined in dynamic environments. This is a resounding strength of our team's and what they have built over time. It is rooted in our culture, and it helps us to execute on our mission to provide high-quality care to our patients while delivering strong financial results. With that, I will turn over the call to Mike for more details on the quarter.