Rebecca Ayer, 12-year healthcare and communications veteran, has joined health care public affairs firm Jarrard Phillips Cate & Hancock as senior executive advisor.

Ayer most recently worked at global public relations agency Hill+Knowlton Strategies. There, she served as vice president and co-led an embedded corporate communications team at Tenet Healthcare, which in 2011 fought off a buyout bid from Franklin-based Community Health Systems. She also has spent time in Washington, D.C., serving in roles that included director of media affairs for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, director of communications for the Office of Public Health and Science, and in the White House managing health policy projects for First Lady Laura Bush.

Ayer began her work in health care as a public relations manager for Baptist Hospital in Nashville. She also carries experience as deputy political director for the 2002 Lamar Alexander for Senate campaign and worked in the office of Gov. Don Sundquist, as well as in community relations at Bank of America. Ayer earned her master’s degree in mass communications from the University of Florida and a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Tennessee.