Sandra Bruce, president and CEO of Resurrection Health Care, Chicago, will lead the new organization that would form pending the system's merger with Provena Health of Mokena, Ill. The merged system would be the largest Catholic provider in Illinois, with 12 acute-care hospitals. Guy Wiebking, Provena's president and CEO, will assume the role of chairman of the new and yet-to-be named organization's board of directors, according to a joint statement from the two providers. Bruce assumed her new role immediately. Officials announced the deal in July.

Closing is expected in November pending approval from Illinois officials. That could happen at a mid-October meeting. The 10 members of Provena's Member Body and Resurrection's Sponsorship Board, which represent the five sponsoring congregations, selected Bruce and Wiebking for the positions. Bruce, named as one of Modern Healthcare's Top 25 Women in Healthcare in 2011, joined Resurrection in November 2008 and is credited with turning around its finances. The system went from a nearly $100 million operating loss in fiscal 2008 to a positive bottom line of more than $1.8 million in fiscal 2010.