UW Collaborator Educational Health Center of Wyoming Has New Executive Leadership

A new CEO has been named to the federally qualified health center (FQHC) system that collaborates with the University of Wyoming’s Family Medicine Residency Programs in Cheyenne and Casper, and the Albany Community Health Clinic in Laramie.

The Educational Health Center of Wyoming (EHCW) board of directors selected Thomas Smoll to serve in the executive leadership role. Smoll, who begins his duties Aug. 9, replaces David Jones, the dean of UW’s College of Health Sciences.

Smoll has more than 15 years of health care administration experience with FQHC facilities in rural communities. He recently served as executive director of Physician Services and Clinic Operations for St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Russellville, Ark.

He also provided executive leadership and strategic direction in Unalaska, Alaska, Cut Bank, Mont., and Pecos, N.M., where he oversaw the management of a rural FQHC Level III patient-centered medical home that provides medical, dental and behavioral health needs.

“The board selected Mr. Smoll because of his diverse skills in coordinating operations, process improvement and improving access to care,” says Phyllis Sherard, co-chair of the EHCW. “Having just completed a successful HRSA operational site visit, our clinics have demonstrated their readiness for next-era performance.”

HRSA is the Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“Mr. Smoll has exactly the skills we need to fuse strategic direction and financial discipline that will raise the bar on community health clinic performance and enhance access to well-coordinated primary care in Laramie, Albany and Natrona counties,” Sherard adds.

Before launching his career in health care administration, Smoll received a law degree from Mercer University School of Law in Macon, Ga., and a bachelor’s degree at the University of Vermont in Burlington.

“I am extremely honored to join the Educational Health Center of Wyoming team. I am looking forward to leading this agency in providing health and well-being services to the communities of Laramie, Casper, Cheyenne and beyond,” Smoll says. “I am very excited with the opportunity this new adventure provides my family and myself. We are looking forward to exploring all that Wyoming has to offer the Smoll family.”

About the Educational Health Center of Wyoming

The EHCW and UW’s Family Medicine Residency Programs are co-applicants and recipients of funding from HRSA. Funding helps operate FQHCs in Casper, Cheyenne and Laramie. The EHCW is Wyoming’s largest safety-net community health system.

The organization’s mission is to educate and serve the public; educate health professionals; and to provide quality health care services that promote health and healing.