LifePoint Health Inc. appointed Elmer Polite to the role of president, Eastern Division. In this role, Polite will provide operational oversight for Lifepoint's acute care hospitals in Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Prior to his interim president role, he served as chief financial officer of the Eastern Division.

As part of his new role, Polite has assumed operational oversight of the 14 facilities that make up Duke LifePoint Healthcare, a joint venture partnership between Lifepoint Health and Duke University Health System. Before joining Lifepoint in 2021, Polite served as the chief financial executive of the Midlands market for Prisma Health in Columbia, SC. In this role, he oversaw the financial management and operations for six Prisma Health – Midlands hospitals.

Before Prisma Health, he held positions as the system chief financial officer and chief staffing officer of Hospital orporation of America's Macon market, and also as the chief financial officer of the Georgia Market for Community Health Systems. Polite earned bachelor's degrees in accounting and agribusiness and economics from South Carolina State University and holds a master's degree in finance from DeVry University. He is a member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association and American College of Healthcare Executives.