TriStar Health system has recruited Ranee Curtis to lead its cardiac services team. Ranee Curtis will start her tenure as TriStar's administrator of cardiovascular services on January 14, 2013. Curtis had spent more than six years at Saint Thomas, where she was executive director of Regional Network Services and helped oversee $2 million in federal grants. In her new role, Curtis will be responsible for the overall strategic direction for cardiac services throughout the 18-hospital TriStar Health system. She will also design, plan and implement cardiovascular programs in markets from South Central Kentucky to North Georgia.

TriStar Health System, Inc. has named Charlotte Burns as vice president of network affiliates, effective February 1, 2013. The newly created position was established to bring senior executive focus to the affiliate relationships that TriStar hospitals have developed with independent hospitals and health systems. A veteran health care official with more than 33 years of experience, Burns has served since 1994 as chief executive officer of Hardin Medical Center, from which she announced her retirement earlier this month. Burns currently serves on the Tennessee Health Services and Development Agency.

National Healthcare Corp. and TriStar Health System, Inc. announced an alliance that aims to provide patients across Middle Tennessee with a continually higher level of care as they transition from hospitals to recovery. TriStar Health and NHC believe that enhancing the quality of care provided to patients and facilitating the transition of patients between care settings will reduce the number of discharged patients who are readmitted to hospitals, especially those readmitted within 30 days of discharge. The organizations will work together to devise new practices and protocols not only to streamline the discharge process but also to help post-acute facilities, like skilled nursing facilities and home healthcare workers more effectively manage and treat conditions. Both organizations will develop integrated intervention strategies that will span the transition of patients' care from acute to post-acute care and vice versa. NHC employees will educate TriStar staff on post-acute care eligibility requirements while TriStar will educate NHC caregivers on hospital discharge procedures. Both organizations will also work on identifying new ways to enhance post-acute care for patients. Clinical and quality measurements will be developed to assess the alliance's success, and patient choice will be honored in all cases.