Tuesday, October 11, 2016 2:09 pm

Andy Wachtel has been named Chief Executive Officer of Saint Thomas DeKalb, Highlands and Stones River hospitals.

Saint Thomas Health is a member of Ascension, the largest non-profit health system in the U.S. and the world's largest Catholic health system.

Wachtel begins his new role on October 10, 2016. He most recently served as CEO of Alliance Health located in Ponca City, Oklahoma, where he was responsible for 140-bed Alliance Health Ponca City hospital and 53-bed Alliance Health Blackwell hospital. These two hospitals blended their management teams in May 2014. Earlier he was Chief Operating Officer at Deaconess Hospital, Oklahoma City.

Wachtel received his master's degree in Public Health from the University of Oklahoma Health Science Center in Oklahoma City and graduated from Southern Nazarene University in Bethany, Oklahoma, with a degree in Business Administration. He is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE). He and his wife, Pam, have been married for 33 years and have two daughters, Jennifer and Mandy.

"Our regional hospitals and the communities they serve are vitally important to us," said Karen Springer, President and CEO of Saint Thomas Health. "We are concerned with maintaining and expanding local access to healthcare for the people of Cannon, DeKalb and White Counties and continuing to improve and enhance the quality of that care. We took great care in selecting the new leader for these hospitals."

"We're pleased to have someone of Andy's experience and skill joining the leadership team of Saint Thomas Health and Ascension," said Gordon Ferguson, President of Saint Thomas Regional Hospitals/President & CEO of Saint Thomas Rutherford. "He is uniquely qualified to lead these three hospitals, and is looking forward to becoming active in the communities they serve."