RegionalCare names Kent Wallace president of Vanguard Health, and other news

RegionalCare Hospital Partners, Brentwood, Tenn., named Kent Wallace, president and COO of Vanguard Health Systems, Nashville, its new CEO, effective March 1. Wallace will replace RegionalCare founder Martin Rash, who was promoted to executive chairman. Wallace will serve on the board of directors and also take over the responsibilities of President and COO John Rutledge, who is leaving the for-profit company. Wallace, 57, is scheduled to step down from his post Feb. 28, according to an Securities and Exchange Commission filing from Vanguard. He has served as president and COO since 2005, and was previously market president for the company's San Antonio operations. For-profit Vanguard appointed Chairman and CEO Charles Martin, 70, president, effective March 1. Martin has served as chairman of the board and CEO since 1997. … Greg Van Pelt announced his retirement as CEO of Providence Health & Services' Oregon division after three years in that position and 38 years with the Renton, Wash.-based system. Van Pelt, 61, will remain with the system until June or until Providence names a replacement. In 1990, Modern Healthcare selected a 38-year-old Van Pelt as an Up & Comer. … Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System, Salinas, Calif., named Matt Gerlach president and CEO. Gerlach, 57, will succeed interim CEO Lowell Johnson, who was appointed to the temporary position in April 2011. Gerlach is expected to assume the lead in March after he leaves his current job as VP and COO at Glendale (Calif.) Memorial Hospital and Health Center. Salinas Valley Memorial, a taxpayer-subsidized public hospital, came under scrutiny last year for the size of the severance package—worth $4.9 million—given to retiring CEO Sam Downing.

Russell Branzell, CEO of the Colorado Health Medical Group, was named president and CEO of the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives. Branzell has served in several leadership positions with the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based professional association of healthcare CIOs and related executives, including on its board of trustees. CHIME announced in November it was looking for someone from the CIO ranks to serve as its new president and CEO. Current CHIME President and CEO Richard Correll, who has been with the organization for 20 years, will become CHIME's COO. Branzell starts as CEO on April 5.