HCA has named Joseph A. Sowell, III, as senior vice president/chief development officer, effective Dec. 1. Currently a senior partner at Nashville-based healthcare law firm Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, Sowell, 53, will be responsible for all activities related to mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures for HCA, which operates 163 hospitals and 105 ambulatory surgery centers in 20 states and England.