Benton succeeds Larry Hughes, who founded and led the health care practice for the past 25 years.

“The firm celebrates the highly successful legacy leadership that Larry has provided our healthcare practice,” Ken Hughes, CEO for DHG, said in a statement. “Succession planning has been a key focus of our firm-wide leadership efforts, and the addition of Brad is an important step in identifying investments that will energize our growth expectations in today’s tremendously opportunistic health care marketplace.”

Benton, a 30-year veteran in the health care industry, will assist DHG with its strategic growth plans within the health care group. Prior to joining DHG, Benton was a partner at KPMG where he worked in the firm’s health care practice for nearly 19 years.

“We sought a seasoned industry leader with the reputation and experience we believe is required to lead the growth of our audit, tax and consulting health care practice for the future,” said Hughes. “We are confident that the combination of our significant legacy of success, our current team’s capabilities and Brad’s leadership will result in accelerated growth for DHG health care and enhanced opportunities for our healthcare team.”