Kandis Smith joined Covenant Health as the senior vice president of human resources May 30, 2025. She oversees all human resources functions within the health system, including leadership development and recruiting efforts.

Smith brings with her over 15 years of experience in human resources leadership. At Ascension Michigan, Smith was responsible for building human resource strategy and processes around attraction and hiring, development, retention, and people satisfaction. She also provided executive leadership in all areas of the people experience. While chief human resources executive, Smith led the successful completion of due diligence, integration, communication, and stakeholder management for the divestiture of 4,800 employees to MyMichiganHealth and the 17,000-employee joint venture with Henry Ford Health. She also achieved the lowest percentage of employee turnover across all Ascension markets, reduced premium year-over-year labor costs, collaborated with stakeholders during a ransomware attack that led to a 45-day downtime, and established economic recovery plans which delivered a significant improvement in operating income.

Before joining Ascension Michigan, she served as acting chief human resources officer and vice president of human resources for Oklahoma University Health and as the senior director of human resources at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

During the course of her career, she has guided companies through transformation, played key roles in initiatives across business strategy, organizational design, leadership development, talent acquisition, succession planning, compensation and benefits, and mergers and acquisitions.

Smith earned her master’s degree in industrial organizational psychology from Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee, and her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Cedarville University in Cedarville, Ohio. She has also completed formal coaching training through Blue Mesa’s Transformational Coaching Program and has spent four years coaching in personal, executive and organizational capacities.

Smith is inspired daily by her husband and daughter. When she is not working, Smith enjoys visiting the national parks and spending time outdoors with her family.

Why I work for Covenant Health:

I am excited to work for a healthcare organization that aligns with my personal and family values: ‘In service to God and community, we value integrity, quality, service, caring, developing people and stewardship.’ I have a calling to care for the caregiver and am grateful for the opportunity to do that at Covenant Health.