FORMER VHI chief executive Jimmy Tolan has joined PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) as head of the company’s healthcare advisory practice.

Mr Tolan’s appointment comes eight months after he announced his intention to step down as chief executive of the VHI.

His surprise resignation in May came in the wake of disagreement with Minister for Health James Reilly over the future of the loss-making insurer, and in particular the government’s plans to split VHI into two or three insurers, with one of the entities to be retained in public ownership.

Mr Tolan, who joined VHI from Fyffes in 2008, indicated at the time of his resignation that he intended to return to the private sector.

He was chief executive of Fyffes from December 2006 to April 2008, having held the positions of corporate development director and corporate finance director, where he had responsibility for merger and acquisitions activity.

A qualified accountant, he joined Fyffes in 1990 from KPMG.

Mr Tolan is to join PWC’s healthcare division in Dublin, which provides advisory, audit and tax services to clients in the healthcare sector.

Clients include hospitals, other healthcare providers and suppliers.

It has also carried out work for healthcare-related government authorities such as the Health Information and Quality Authority and the Health Information Authority.