Dr. Rodney F. Hochman has been selected as the new president and chief executive officer of Swedish Hospital.

Hochman is currently executive vice president of Sentara Healthcare, a major medical system with seven acute-care hospitals, 1,722 beds and 17,000 employees based in Norfolk, Va. He has held this position since 2004, after beginning his tenure at Sentara as the organization's chief medical officer and senior vice president in 1998. In his current role, he is responsible for the operations of five hospitals, as well as Sentara's medical group, legal and corporate compliance divisions.

Hochman will succeed Richard H. Peterson, who announced his retirement last June after 12 years as Swedish's CEO. Hochman's selection follows an extensive national search conducted by Swedish that included numerous internal and external candidates.

"We are delighted to announce that Dr. Hochman has accepted our offer to become the next president and CEO of Swedish," Swedish board chairman Kirby McDonald said. "Throughout the entire search process, he has demonstrated a unique blend of leadership qualities that the search committee and board found extremely compelling. Included in this list of characteristics are: visionary thinking and the management skills to execute on that vision; a commitment to quality and patient safety; the ability to lead system-wide change initiatives and growth strategies; a comprehensive grasp of the financial workings of major health-care organizations and experience in a large, complex health-care system."

"Throughout his 30-year career, Rod has steadfastly worked to achieve excellence in everything he has done," McDonald added. "Starting first as a physician and then as a professor, dean and administrator. In short, the search committee believed - and the Swedish board concurred - that Rod is the right individual at the right time for the job."

Hochman received his M.D. from Boston University School of Medicine and B.A. from Boston University. He is married to his wife of 28 years, Nancy, and has two daughters Alyssa, 24, and Lindsey, 22.

"I am thrilled to be joining Swedish. It is an organization with a regional and increasingly national reputation for patient care with a bright future ahead," Hochman said. "I look forward to working with physicians, staff and leadership to take this renowned organization to the next level."