LewisGale Regional Health System has added a chief medical officer to its senior leadership in an effort to focus on quality and patient safety issues.

LewisGale announced Tuesday that it has hired a physician from Florida to fill the new role. Dr. Gary Winfield, 55, previously worked for LewisGale’s parent company, HCA Inc., in several roles. Most recently, he was acting division chief medical officer for HCA’s South Atlantic division.

Previously, the Salem-based system did not have a marketwide chief medical officer overseeing patient care standards at its four hospitals in Southwest Virginia. Instead, LewisGale relied on medical directors and medical executive committees at each of the hospitals to oversee physician staff and issues related to patient safety and quality, spokeswoman Nancy May said.

The move is in line with LewisGale’s efforts to integrate the four hospitals into one system, she said.