Howard Le Vant was named chief executive...

Howard Le Vant was named chief executive and executive vice president of the nonprofit LifePLUS Foundation, a subsidiary of the Chatsworth-based HealthWest Foundation, a health-care organization. He fills a post left vacant several months earlier when Brent Lamb left to take another job in the health-care industry. LifePLUS owns and operates Coldwater Canyon and Pasadena Community hospitals and two institutions for the treatment of psychiatric disorders and chemical dependency.

Le Vant was previously regional vice president for HealthWest, overseeing a group of hospitals in California. In his new job, he will help LifePLUS seek opportunities to expand, the organization said.

Separately, Elizabeth Hargreaves was appointed vice president for marketing and development of CareAmerica Health Plans, a newly formed health maintenance organization that is a division of HealthWest. Hargreaves was previously director of HMO development for Healthcare U.S.A. in Anaheim.