South Carolina health system hires new leader

George Zara, chief executive of Denver's Saint Anthony Hospitals, has been tapped to head the financially-ailing South Carolina-based Sisters of Charity Providence Hospital. Experts say Zara will have a full plate once he arrives at Providence. The system continues operating in a tough economic environment caused by increased cost of equipment as the number of uninsured patients rises and the payments made by government and private insurers decrease. In addition, an $82 million plan to increase the number of beds and increase emergency, intensive care and MRI services at Providence's Northeast Richland campus is being contested by Lexington Medical Center.