HCA Healthcare CEO Sam Hazen last fall, discussing possible acquisitions, said the hospital giant was ready "to take on more, both from a balance sheet standpoint as well as an organizational capacity standpoint." On Thursday, it became more clear what the second half of that statement will include.

The nation's largest for-profit hospital operator will pay an undisclosed amount to become the majority owner of Galen College of Nursing, which is based in Louisville and runs four other campuses as well as online education programs. The deal sets up 30-year-old Galen to become the in-house training department for HCA's 94,000 nurses — the company already runs smaller nursing schools at two of its hospitals in Kansas City and Miami — while also having the school set up nursing programs at HCA hospitals around the country.