Sam Fleming, who passed away this week at 91, was probably at the center of more Nashville business stories than anyone else who ever lived. One of the most important was one never reported: how he saved the day for Hospital Corporation of America.
After its founding in 1969, HCA grew rapidly and succeeded in getting financing packages of $30 million in 1970 (from an bank consortium led by First National City Bank of New York) and $27 million from a group of insurers in 1972.
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