Wellmont Health System named Melony Goodhand COO and VP of finance at Bristol (Tenn.) Regional Medical Center.

For the past nine years, Goodhand, 53, was vice chancellor of finance and CFO at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock.

At Bristol Regional, she takes over duties from Dale Poe, formerly VP of finance, and Brad Price, formerly COO, who have moved into new roles with Kingsport, Tenn.-based Wellmont, a spokesman said.

Long before Goodhand entered the ranks of healthcare executives, she spent six years working as a physician assistant in Tennessee hospitals. She later was a certified public accountant for Ernst & Young.