~ Joel Gilbertson became regional chief executive for Washington and Montana and executive vice president at Providence Health & Services on March 1. The 48-year-old East Coast native succeeds Elaine Couture, who retired last month after a decade in that role. Gilbertson hails from Maryland, where he advanced through degrees in political science, public health, and law. He served as legislative counsel in Washington, D.C., for U.S. Sen. Frank Murkowski, of Alaska, for whom he focused on health and social policy while Murkowski served on the Senate Finance Committee. He then moved to Alaska to become commissioner of the Alaska Department of Health & Social Services, and in 2005, he joined Providence as its Alaska-based regional director of strategy and business development. He advanced through the organization, eventually moving to its headquarters in Renton, Washington.