The hospital did not identify Mr. Tenreiro as a member of the clergy, unlike his predecessor, a 53-year member of the order of Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph.
He takes over a hospital that has been a steady financial performer, with operating income of $46.1 million on total revenue of $375 million in 2012. In March, Palos Community completed a $380 million project to add a seven-story patient tower, dubbed the Hospitaller Pavilion, and covert the hospital to all private rooms.
Mr. Tenreiro has also served in executive roles at Valley Baptist Medical Center in Harlingen, Texas, on the Gulf Coast just a few miles from the Mexican border, and at NCH Healthcare System in Naples, Fla.
In September, he was one of two candidates on the short list to become the CEO of General Health, replacing an executive who had retired six months earlier, according to a Sept. 9 story in the Baton Rouge Advocate. The report says one of the two candidates was selected, but could not confirm who it was.
General Health's website still lists Mr. Tenreiro as COO.
Palos was opened in 1972 to serve an influx of former South Siders to the nearby suburbs.
Ms. Wright headed 428-bed Palos from 1982 to March of this year, when she retired as the last nun to run a Chicago-area hospital. As an executive, she gained a reputation for her no-nonsense management style, according to a Crain's profile published last year.
"Palos Community names new chief executive" originally appeared in Crain's Chicago Business.
