“HCA is a huge force in Nashville. It touches lives not only through its hospitals, but also through its thousands of local employees, its charity giving and its corporate leadership. Its founders — the late Dr. Thomas Frist Sr., the late Jack Massey and Dr. Thomas Frist Jr. — have been active in all facets of life in Nashville. The Frist Center is one of Nashville’s crown jewels. Bill Frist serves as Tennessee’s senior U.S. senator. Yet the impact of the buyout deal on the table, or some rival deal to buy HCA, could be felt far beyond Nashville. If the buyout goes through, it would the be the largest leveraged buyout in U.S. history, taking the nation’s largest U.S. hospital operator off of Wall Street and into private hands. While the business ramifications are fascinating, it’s the implications for health care that are most interesting to the public.” (07/30/06)