David T. Vandewater, president and CEO of Nashville, Tenn.-based Ardent Health Services, will retire this year.
Mr. Vandewater is a 19-year veteran of the company.
He began his tenure there in 2001 as chairman of Behavioral Healthcare Corp., Ardent's predecessor. He then became president and CEO.
Under his leadership, the company's focus grew to include acute care hospitals and health systems.
Now Ardent is one of the nation's largest private investor-owned healthcare companies, with 30 hospitals in six states, 26,000 employees, nearly 1,400 employed providers and more than $4.4 billion in revenue, according to a company news release.
Mr. Vandewater will helm Ardent until his successor is named.