Beginning Sept. 30, Charles Stewart will oversee Sparks Health System in Fort Smith and Summit Medical Center in Van Buren. “I am truly excited to be joining such a great health system, which has such a long history and tradition of serving the Fort Smith and Van Buren regions,” Stewart said in a news release. “I look forward to becoming part of the community.”

Stewart earned a B.S. in education and psychology from Jacksonville State University in his native state of Alabama. He has two master’s degrees from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, one in education and counseling and the other in hospital and health administration.

Stewart joins Sparks and Summit from Poplar Bluff, Mo., where he was the Missouri market CEO for Health Management Associates at the hospitals Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center and Twin Rivers Medical Center for the past two years. His 30 years of experience in hospital management includes administrative and executive positions at hospital systems in Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and North Carolina.