William H. "Bill" Morgan, Co-head Of Wells Fargo Healthcare Financial Services (Photo: Business Wire)

Rising to the challenges and complexities of rapid growth and reform in the U.S. health care system, Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) said today it has named two financial services veterans to new leadership roles in Government and Institutional Banking (GIB).

Melissa Bastan has been named managing director and head of Healthcare for Public Finance nationwide. She is based in New York. William H. “Bill” Morgan is now co-head of Healthcare Financial Services (HFS) nationwide. He is based in Charlotte.

Wells Fargo GIB serves regional and national health care systems, community hospitals, academic medical centers, children’s hospitals, and managed care organizations.

“Wells Fargo is one of the top banks to the best-managed hospitals in the country,” said Phil Smith, head of Wells Fargo GIB. “The not-for-profit health care industry is consolidating into bigger, more complex health systems, and health care reform is reshaping our future. Wells Fargo will continue to invest in the resources needed to meet growing demand from our non-profit health care customers.”

Bastan brings more than 20 years of health care financial experience to Wells Fargo. Most recently, she served as managing director and partner at The Yuba Group in New York. Before that, she was an executive director with Morgan Stanley’s Not-for-Profit Healthcare and Higher Education teams with Public Finance, Fixed Income Division, where she was a senior investment banker for health systems, academic medical centers, and universities. Bastan holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Georgetown University and an MBA, with focus on finance and public policy, at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

“Melissa’s expertise in acquisitions and capital formation for large hospitals and health care systems is key to Wells Fargo’s continued growth,” said Peter Hill, head of the Wells Fargo Securities Public Finance team.

Morgan joined Wells Fargo in 2010 and led the HFS Mid-Atlantic and Southeast divisions. He has 28 years of commercial banking experience, including posts at Fleet Boston, and Fifth Third Bank. He earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Connecticut and an MBA from Rochester Institute of Technology.

In his new role, Morgan leads the HFS Eastern Division, and he co-heads the national HFS group with Jeffrey A. Ruehle, who will be based in San Francisco and oversee the HFS Western Division.

“Bill’s tenure in healthcare commercial banking, partnering with our already-strong HFS leadership in Jeff Ruehle, puts Wells Fargo among the strongest collaborative banking teams in the healthcare sector,” said Smith.

Unique in the industry, Wells Fargo Government and Institutional Banking (GIB) provides a wide range of solutions to meet the needs of government, education, healthcare, and not-for-profit organizations. Bringing together specialized commercial banking teams, public finance investment bankers, municipal derivatives marketers and municipal sales, trading and syndicate professionals into one team, GIB offers an integrated approach that leverages the resources of Wells Fargo to create value for its clients.

About Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.5 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 9,000 locations, 12,000 ATMs, and the internet ( wellsfargo.com), and has offices in 36 countries to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With more than 264,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 25 on Fortune’s 2013 rankings of America’s largest corporations. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy all our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially. Wells Fargo perspectives are also available at blogs.wellsfargo.com.

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