At its founding in 1968, Nashville-based HCA was one of the nation's first hospital companies. Today, we are the nation's leading provider of healthcare services, a company comprised of locally managed facilities that includes about 165 hospitals and 115 freestanding surgery centers in 20 states and England and employing approximately 204,000 people. Approximately four to five percent of all inpatient care delivered in the country today is provided by HCA facilities. Richard M. Bracken serves as Chairman of HCA and R. Milton Johnson is the company's President and Chief Executive Officer.
HCA is committed to the care and improvement of human life and strives to deliver high quality, cost effective healthcare in the communities we serve. Building on the foundation provided by our Mission & Values, HCA puts patients first and works to constantly improve the care we give them by implementing measures that support our caregivers, help ensure patient safety and provide the highest possible quality. Investing in our communities is important to us. HCA typically invests about $1.5 billion annually to keep our facilities modern and up-to-date technologically and to expand and add services where needed. Focusing primarily on communities where the company is a leading healthcare provider, HCA selectively adds new facilities in order to better serve our communities.
And because two HCA founders were physicians, we value highly the strong relationships we've created with local physicians. We endeavor to provide them with a wide array of services and modern facilities in order to help them deliver the best possible care.