SOURCE: Asheville Citizen Times
The new HCA building on Charlotte at 11th adds to the Nashville skyline. HCA was founded in Nashville in 1968. (Photo11: Larry McCormack / The Tennessean)
ASHEVILLE — HCA Healthcare has tapped veteran hospital leader Greg Lowe to serve as president of its Asheville-based division comprised of Mission Health facilities it acquired this year.
Lowe previously served as CEO of HCA's Chippenham and Johnston-Willis hospitals, a two-campus system in Richmond, Virginia. He effectively replaces Mission President and CEO Dr. Ron Paulus, who told employees in an email last week he's transitioning to become a strategic adviser for HCA, reporting to Chuck Hall, president of HCA's National Group.
HCA also named employee veteran Terence van Arkel as CFO of the Nashville-based company's North Carolina division.
Created by HCA's purchase of Mission, the division is entirely made up of the existing six-hospital system, surgery centers and other facilities that Mission operated in Western North Carolina.
"Greg is a talented leader and system operator with experience expanding medical services to meet the healthcare needs of the community," Hall said. "Greg and Terence head up an experienced, patient-focused North Carolina Division leadership team to support the continued success of Mission Health.
"We appreciate Dr. Paulus’ leadership of Mission Health and look forward to his continued contributions to HCA Healthcare in his new role."
Paulus had been Mission's chief executive since 2010, during which time he was named one of the state's most influential leaders by Business North Carolina magazine.
Paulus shepherded in massive facility upgrades such as the development of the new Mission Hospital for Advanced Medicine in Asheville; pushed to dissolve the Certificate of Public Advantage law, which had capped Mission's profit margin and the number of doctors it could employ since 1995; and led negotiations with Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina in 2017 and in its deal with HCA that was finalized last month.
Before becoming CEO of Chippenham and Johnston-Willis hospitals, Lowe was CEO of Lawnwood Regional Medical Center and Heart Institute, an HCA Healthcare-affiliated level II trauma center in Florida. He's also held CEO roles at hospitals in North Carolina and Tennessee.
Van Arkel, who has been CFO of HCA’s South Atlantic division since 2016, playing a role in the integration of recently acquired Memorial Health in Georgia.
HCA, which stands for Hospital Corporation of America, is a for-profit hospital group that was founded in 1968 in Nashville. With the acquisition of the Mission properties, HCA operates 185 hospitals and roughly 1,800 care sites in 21 states and the United Kingdom.
The company's stock priced closed Wednesday at $142.33.
This story is from the North Carolina Business News Wire, a service of the UNC Chapel Hill School of Media and Journalism. Citizen Times reporter Dillon Davis contributed to this report.