Smith was at the forefront of creating patient and family councils that advise individual Vanderbilt hospital entities from the patient/family perspective.

Vanderbilt’s first primary care clinic in North Nashville is nurse-run and offers all aspects of primary care, preventive and acute services to adults and children over 2.

The Vanderbilt Transplant Center had a banner year in 2024. The number of patients whose lives were saved by Vanderbilt’s heart transplant team far surpasses any previous total by an individual transplant center. 

Reginald Porter of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, received the procedure in September after being diagnosed at an area hospital in February with cholangiocarcinoma, a rare cancer that develops in the bile ducts.

The recipient of the 2,000th transplant was Wes Carter, 37, a real estate agent from Pensacola, Florida, who first noticed an irregular heart rhythm in his mid-20s.

The conference showcased the vital importance and transformative impact of PM&R, often referred to as physiatry, which plays a crucial role in health care.