Richard Smith

Human Resources Officer

Richard K. Smith has worked as a human resources professional for over 20 years, first as the Director of Human Resources for a Critical Access Hospital in Michigan and for the past 15 years, as the Human Resources Officer at Cody Regional Health. Richard’s initial foray into healthcare was as a staff Respiratory Therapist, both in the acute care setting and home care arena, until he was promoted to coordinate an inpatient and outpatient Cardiac Rehab Program. It was through an odd twist of fate that Richard found the human resources field as the incumbent Human Resources Officer at the hospital in Michigan identified qualities in Richard that he felt would lend themselves to a successful career in HR resulting in a formal succession plan where Richard became the HR Officer when his mentor retired. Richard earned his Bachelors of Science degree in Communications from Western Michigan University and his Associates of Applied Respiratory Therapy at Kalamazoo Community College. Richard finds his experience as a staff respiratory therapist to be very valuable in his role as HR Officer as he can personally relate to the unique challenges RN’s, therapists and other caregivers face in today’s healthcare environment and he feels this makes him an especially effective HR leader. Richard is thoroughly researched and current in most every aspect of human resources to include state and federal regulations and guidelines, labor law, FMLA, workers compensation, employee relations, recruitment and retention, wage analysis, health insurance, pension and retirement plans and leadership training.