Darlington'S newest hospital has appointed a chief.

Anne Rhodes, 39, has been appointed managing director of Woodlands Healthcare, the company behind the £8.1m Woodlands Hospital, due to open at Morton Park in the summer.

Anne moves to the region from Doncaster, in South Yorkshire, where she has been the hospital director at Park Hill Hospital for the past six years.

She qualified as a registered general nurse in 1983 at Ormskirk, Lancashire, and has worked in various NHS staff nursing posts.

Anne joined the independent health care sector in 1987 as a night sister at Renacres Hall Hospital, near Southport, and was promoted to nursing matron in Doncaster and clinical services manager before becoming hospital director.

During that time she had managerial responsibility for income generation, business development, contracting from Health Authorities and developing relationships with the NHS in Doncaster.

Anne was also responsible for doubling the hospital turnover in a six-year period and was recently nominated for a Doncaster Chamber Business Award.

A married mother of one, she said she was delighted to be appointed as managing director for Darlington's new private hospital.

She said: "Leading a team which has built a hospital from scratch is a fantastic opportunity.

"Woodlands Hospital is an exciting project and I'm looking forward to the challenge of moving to a new environment."

Howard Rutherford, medical director at Woodlands Healthcare, said: "Anne is exactly the type of person we wanted to lead the Woodlands team.

"She has a broad experience in healthcare from when she first qualified as a staff nurse all the way through to her management roles.

"Anne has a great enthusiasm for the healthcare sector and has a good way with people. I'm confident that Woodlands Healthcare will go from strength to strength under her leadership.