Former CHS EVP and COO Martin Rash founds Province Healthcare, originally named Principal Hospital Company, as a hospital operator startup. The company is funded by Chicago-based investment fund GTCR and, like a number of new companies at the time, focuses on management contracts in non-urban markets.
In two years, Province Healthcare will go public with Rash at the helm. LifePoint Hospitals acquires the company in 2004 for $1.7 billion.
