Kevin Gross is returning to Ardent Health Services. After stints with Universal Health Services and RehabCare Group, he'll resume his former job with the Nashville hospital company — president of Ardent’s Oklahoma Division and CEO of Hillcrest HealthCare System in Tulsa.

"Kevin is a strong and proven leader in the health care industry," said company president and CEO David Vandewater in a statement announcing the move, which will be effective June 28. "We are excited about his return."

Gross led Ardent’s Oklahoma operations from August 2004 until February 2006, before leaving to serve as president of the acute-care division of Pennsylvania-based UHS, which is in the process of acquiring Psychiatric Solutions. In 2008, he joined St. Louis-based RehabCare as senior vice president of its hospital division.

Hillcrest, acquired by Ardent for about $280 million in 2004, is a 5,000-employee system encompassing four hospitals, a heart institute and a 120-doctor physician group.