Mr. Smith serves as a Director for ICA and served as president and chief executive officer of VHA Inc. from October 1991 until his retirement in April 2003. From 1977 to 1991, Mr. Smith served as president and CEO of Yale-New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Conn., and as president and CEO of Yale-New Haven Health Services Corp.
Prior to joining Yale-New Haven, Smith was with Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit from 1971 to 1976, where he served as vice president and executive director of hospitals and clinics. From 1967 to 1971, Smith was associate director of hospitals and director of medical center planning for the University of Minnesota Health Sciences Center in Minneapolis. Following an administrative residency, he held administrative positions at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., from 1961 to 1967.
Mr. Smith currently serves on the boards of directors of IPC-The Hospitalist Company, Horizon Healthcare, Kinetic Concepts, Inc. and CompHealth Group. Previously, he was also a director of Renal Care Group, Neoforma, Genentech and New Haven Savings Bank. He also serves on the Advisory Boards of the following firms: Excel Medical Ventures, Clark Consulting, and Shattuck Hammond Partners.
MODERN HEALTHCARE magazine named Mr. Smith one of the 25 most influential health care leaders of the last 25 years in 2001, and in 2002 he was selected by the magazine’s readers as #4 among the 100 Most Influential People in health care. In 2003, he received the Distinguished Service Award from the American Hospital Association, its highest honor, and, in 2006, was elected to the Healthcare Hall of Fame.
Mr. Smith received a bachelor’s degree from Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and a master of business administration degree from the University of Chicago. He has two honorary degrees from Connecticut colleges.