An alumnus and longtime health care executive will take the helm of GW Hospital in late April, filling a CEO and managing director position that has been vacant for more than five months.

Barry Wolfman will assume the hospital’s top administrative post April 23. He holds a master of health services administration degree from from GW.

Wolfman most recently served as CEO at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Calif. He also worked as senior vice president at health care center Kaiser Permanente and other medical centers in his 27-year career.

“We are excited to welcome Barry Wolfman to The George Washington University Hospital,” Marc Miller, president of Universal Health Services, said. “His proven track record of exceeding objectives and creating a strong culture of excellent physician, employee and community relations establishes him as a strong leader for one of the country’s most prestigious university hospitals.”

The hospital’s former top leader Trent Crable resigned Sept. 30, a move that was not publicly announced for more than three months. Crable had held the job temporarily starting June 2008 before permanently becoming the hospital’s CEO and managing director in January 2009.

A letter from Universal Health Services, the hospital’s management company, called Crable’s exit “mutually agreeable.”