Ardent Health Services today announced the appointment of two new senior operations leaders and the promotion of three executives to expanded roles.

Mike Matthews has been appointed president of Ardent Physician Services. He will oversee Ardent’s medical group operations across eight markets in six states while working closely with providers to create greater alignment across the continuum of care. Matthews was previously senior vice president at ScionHealth where he led the company’s physician enterprise, which included more than 500 providers across 13 states. Prior to that, he served as regional vice president of physician services for Lifepoint Health.

David Schultz has been named president of Ardent’s New Mexico market, which includes Lovelace Health System and its five hospitals and more than 30 sites of care. A veteran healthcare leader with more than 25 years of experience, Schultz most recently served as senior vice president of operations and market president for Virginia Mason Franciscan Health in Tacoma, Washington, which encompasses 11 hospitals, nearly 5,000 employed and affiliated providers, and 18,000 team members.

Additionally, Ardent Chief Nursing Officer Lisa Dolan, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, has been elevated to senior vice president and chief nursing officer. She will continue to oversee quality and safety initiatives, as well as clinical education and development for more than 7,000 nurses across the company’s 30 hospitals and more than 200 sites of care. Dolan, who joined Ardent in 2020, has more than three decades of nursing leadership experience.

Reed Smith has been promoted to the newly created role of chief consumer officer. Smith, who previously served as vice president of digital and innovation, will assume responsibility for all digital, marketing and branding across Ardent. He joined Ardent in 2021, bringing nearly two decades of experience in healthcare marketing and digital strategy.

Rebecca Kirkham has been promoted to serve as chief communications officer. Kirkham joined Ardent in 2021 as vice president of communications, bringing more than 25 years of experience in strategic healthcare communications. She will continue to lead Ardent’s overall communications strategy with oversight of all internal and external communications as well as brand and reputation management efforts.

“We are pleased to welcome and elevate these highly regarded executives as part of our senior leadership team,” said Ardent President and CEO Marty Bonick. “Each brings a wealth of experience that will be key to Ardent’s success as we continue to align resources to better engage our patients, grow our hospital and ambulatory services and develop value-based care networks that support our ability to place the consumer at the center of everything we do.”

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About Ardent Health Services

Ardent Health Services invests in people, technology and communities. Through its subsidiaries, Ardent owns and operates 30 hospitals and more than 200 sites of care in six states with more than 23,000 employees and 1,400+ aligned providers. With a focus on evidence-based practices to improve quality care and patient outcomes, 95% of eligible Ardent hospitals received a Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade of A or B for Fall 2022, compared with 57% of all ranked U.S. hospitals. In 2022, Modern Healthcare recognized six Ardent entities as “Best Places to Work,” marking the 14^th consecutive year an Ardent facility was recognized. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Ardent is owned by current and former members of Ardent’s management team, Equity Group Investments (EGI), a Chicago-based private investment firm, and Ventas, Inc. (NYSE: VTR), a publicly traded real estate investment trust. Learn more at www.ardenthealth.com.

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