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                                                                    EXHIBIT 99.1

                           LifePoint Hospitals, Inc.

                           Certification Pursuant to
                         Rule 13a-14 of the Securities
                       Exchange Act of 1934, as amended,
                       as Adopted Pursuant to Section 302
                       of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

I, Kenneth C. Donahey, certify that:

         1.       I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of
LifePoint Hospitals, Inc.;

         2.       Based on my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain
any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact
necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which
such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by
this quarterly report;

         3.       Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other
financial information included in this quarterly report, fairly present in all
material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows
of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this quarterly
report;

         4.       The registrant's other certifying officers and I are
responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures
(as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-14 and 15d-14) for the registrant and we
have:

                  a)       designed such disclosure controls and procedures to
ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its
consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities,
particularly during the period in which this quarterly report is being prepared;

                  b)       evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's
disclosure controls and procedures as of a date within 90 days prior to the
filing date of this quarterly report (the "Evaluation Date"); and

                  c)       presented in this quarterly report our conclusions
about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures based on our
evaluation as of the Evaluation Date;

         5.       The registrant's other certifying officers and I have
disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation, to the registrant's auditors and
the audit committee of registrant's board of directors (or persons performing
the equivalent function):

                  a)       all significant deficiencies in the design or
operation of internal controls which could adversely affect the registrant's
ability to record, process, summarize and report financial data and have
identified for the registrant's auditors any material weaknesses in internal
controls; and

                  b)       any fraud, whether or not material, that involves
management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant's
internal controls; and

         6.       The registrant's other certifying officers and I have
indicated in this quarterly report whether or not there were significant changes
in internal controls or in other factors that could significantly affect
internal controls subsequent to the date of our most recent evaluation,
including any corrective actions with regard to significant deficiencies and
material weaknesses.



Date: April 30, 2003
                                           /s/Kenneth C. Donahey
                                           ---------------------------------
                                           Kenneth C. Donahey
                                           Chairman, Chief Executive Officer
                                           and President