Matthew Fox

The head of Chattanooga's biggest housing and service agency for seniors is leaving after two years on the job.

Matthew Fox, president and chief executive of Alexian Village of Tennessee since 2010, will leave the Catholic senior ministries organization on July 27. Fox declined to discuss his departure when reached at his Signal Mountain home on Saturday.

John Turongian, vice president of Alexian Brothers Senior Ministries in St. Louis, thanked Fox for his work and said in an emailed statement Saturday that Alexian "will begin a search for his replacement immediately."

"During his tenure at Alexian Village of Tennessee, Matt strengthened the Chattanooga operations and successfully led the capital improvement planning process, including the $30 million campus plan which is expected to begin in the upcoming weeks," Turongian said in the statement.

Fox is leaving as Alexian begins work on a $22.7 million replacement of its 30-year-old nursing home and prepares to spend another $10 million to renovate existing buildings on its 33-acre site on the brow of Signal Mountain.

In March, the Tennessee Health Services and Development Agency granted a certificate of need for Alexian to build a 114-bed nursing home that will be nearly twice as big as the existing facility.

Fox was previously regional operations vice president for Brookdale Senior Living in Austin, Texas, before being hired in May 2010 as CEO of Alexian Village of Tennessee. The following year, Alexian Brothers Health System, the parent of the Signal Mountain-based ministries, merged with the nation's largest Catholic-owned medical care provider, Ascension Health.

Alexian's local facilities and programs employ more than 700 workers and house about 500 seniors.

Alexian began in Tennessee with a Roman Catholic retreat and training center built on Signal Mountain in 1936. The Catholic ministry has grown to include senior residences, assisted living and nursing home facilities and elderly service programs on Signal Mountain and across Chattanooga.

In Hamilton County, the organization operates Alexian Village of Tennessee, Alexian Grove, Alexian Brothers Live At Home Program, Lone Oak Free Health and Dental Clinic, Alexian Inn, Alexian Brothers Valley Residence, Alexian Village Health and Rehabilitation Center, Alexian Brothers PACE Program, Alexian Brothers Senior Neighbors and Alexian Brothers Home Care.

Alexian Brothers Senior Ministries also operates in Wisconsin, Illinois and Missouri.