March 14, 2011 – D. Larry McEvoy, chief executive officer of Memorial Health System, has named Michelle Smith as Memorial’s new Chief Nursing Officer/Vice President of Clinical Operations.

Smith comes to Memorial from Abrazo Health Care, a subsidiary of Vanguard Health System, in Phoenix, Ariz., where she served as chief regional nursing officer for five community hospitals and a specialty heart hospital.

Smith has an undergraduate degree from William Jewell College in Liberty, Mo., and a master’s degree in nursing from the University of Missouri.

“Michelle emerged as the preferred candidate because of her strong commitment to create the highest quality for patients,’’ McEvoy said.