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                                                                    EXHIBIT 31.1

                           PROVINCE HEALTHCARE COMPANY
                            CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO

      RULE 13a-14(a) UNDER THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934, AS AMENDED,
      AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002

      I, Martin S. Rash, certify that:

      1.    I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of the registrant,
Province Healthcare Company;

      2.    Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order
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
report;

      3.    Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this 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 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-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial
reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the
registrant, and have:

                  a)    Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or
            caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under
            our supervision, 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 report is being prepared;

                  b)    Designed such internal control over financial reporting,
            or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be
            designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance
            regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation
            of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with
            generally accepted accounting principles;

                  c)    Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's
            disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our
            conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and
            procedures as of the end of the period covered by this report based
            on such evaluation; and

                  d)    Disclosed in this report any change in the Registrant's
            internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the
            registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the Registrant's fourth
            fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially
            affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the
            registrant's internal control over financial reporting; and

      5.    The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed,
based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial
reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the
registrant's board of directors:

                  a)    All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in
            the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting
            which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's
            ability to record, process, summarize and report financial
            information; and

                  b)    Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves
            management or other employees who have a significant role in the
            registrant's internal control over financial reporting.

Date: March 22, 2005
                                                         /s/ Martin S. Rash
                                                         -----------------------
                                                         Martin S. Rash
                                                         Chief Executive Officer