Smith takes permanent president and CEO title at SoutheastHEALTH

Wayne Smith has been named president and CEO at SoutheastHEALTH, a position he's been filling on an interim basis since last summer.

Southeast Hospital Board of Trustees chairman A.M. Spradling III announced Smith's selection as CEO on Friday. He replaced Debbie Linnes, who left in June.

"Because of Wayne's outstanding performance as interim president and CEO, the executive committee and full board of trustees agree that he is the perfect person to continue in that capacity," Spradling said in a news release.

Due to Smith's job performance, no formal search for a new CEO was conducted, said Sally Owen, hospital spokeswoman. The decision was made at the board's April meeting.

In a news release, Smith was praised by the board for his work on several hospital initiatives including partnering with Missouri Delta Medical Center in Sikeston to develop Servir, a new data center housing a vast networking and data storage system for electronic medical records for the region and beyond; teaming with Cardiovascular Consultants, the largest cardiology group in Southeast Missouri; continuing to grow the Southeast Medical Group through the addition of five physician practices; and continuing technology upgrades and renovations at Southeast Health Center of Ripley County in Doniphan, Mo.

Smith joined Southeast in September 2010 as vice president of human resources and development.

He previously worked in a similar capacity at Saint Francis Medical Center after working as Southeast Missouri State University's vice president of advancement.

Before that, Smith, a Delta native who was born at Southeast Hospital, worked outside the area as an executive with Verizon, TXU Communications and Ameritech.

Pertinent address:

1701 Lacey St., Cape Girardeau, MO