HCA CEO Bracken to step down

HCA, Nashville, the country's largest hospital chain by revenue and hospital count, will undergo a leadership change at the end of the year, when CEO Richard Bracken steps down.

R. Milton Johnson, 56, the chain's president and chief financial officer, will take the CEO role at that time.

Bracken, 60, will continue to serve as chairman of the board, according to a news release. He joined HCA in 1981, and held a number of leadership roles, before being named president and chief operating officer in 2002. He accepted the CEO post in January 2009.

Johnson moved up the ranks at HCA after serving as director of tax for Healthtrust, which merged with HCA in 1995. He stepped into the role of controller in 1998 and CFO in 2004. He joined the board of directors in 2009, and became president two years later.

The company said in the release that it is conducting an internal search for a new CFO.