Medical Director, Massachusetts Department of Public Health
Dr. Lauren A. Smith is the Medical Director of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health where she works closely with the Commissioner to establish and implement departmental priorities. She is an Associate Professor at the Boston University School of Medicine. She serves as a pediatric hospitalist at Boston Medical Center where she was the Medical Director of the Pediatric Inpatient Unit for 4 years.
Dr. Smith’s research career has focused on the implication of public polices for child health and childhood health disparities. She has authored two recent reports on the impact of affordable housing and energy costs on child health and well being as examples of the effects of public policy on health. She recently served as a W.T. Grant Health Policy Fellow in the office of House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi and as a member of the Massachusetts Commission to End Racial Disparities in Health.
Our community counts on us as a safety net hospital, whether or not they are disadvantaged patients, we have a very strong standing in the community. I think its things like this, innovations like this, that demonstrate to the community that we are here for you and that we are thinking about how to improve. We aren’t willing to stay with the status quo. I think it improves our standing.
Dr. Tyler Aguinaldo, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center