President & CEO, Ardent Health Services

David T. Vandewater currently serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Ardent Health Services, which is expanding the company’s existing behavioral capabilities in current locations by acquiring medical/surgical facilities in urban and suburban areas around the United States. Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe has committed $145 million as initial funding for this project. Mr. Vandewater has served in executive positions in the hospital industry ranging from CEO of Vista Hills Medical Center in El Paso to Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Republic Health Corporation to President and Chief Operating Officer of Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corporation. When he left Columbia in 1997, the company had become the world’s largest healthcare organization with more than 340 hospitals, 130 surgery centers and 550 home health locations in 38 states and 2 foreign countries. With annual revenues of $20 billion, the company employed more than 285,000 people making it the 7th largest U.S. employer and 12th largest employer worldwide. Since leaving Columbia, Mr. Vandewater served as a principal of America’s Health Network, the first and only television source for around-the-clock health and medical information, and in 1999 worked with USP International, assisting the company in acquiring hospitals in Europe. Currently, the company operates five hospitals in Spain and two in the United Kingdom. Mr. Vandewater is a past Chairman of the Federation of American Health Systems, the trade association for investor-owned hospitals and presently serves on the board of trustees of LifeMasters Supported SelfCare and The Nashville Symphony. Mr. Vandewater is a past Chairman of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Middle Tennessee and he remains very active within the organization. A native of El Dorado, Arkansas, Mr. Vandewater holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Henderson State College and a Master’s degree in healthcare administration from the University of Houston Clear Lake