TYLER, Texas — A pediatrics professor for the upcoming UT Tyler medical school was appointed Tuesday morning as the next Smith County local health authority.
Smith County commissioners selected Dr. Valerie B. Smith for the role to replace Dr. Paul McGaha after his retirement. Smith County Judge Neal Franklin swore Smith in for the position.
She is an assistant professor of pediatrics with the UT Tyler School of Medicine. Smith earned her medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and completed her pediatric residency at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, the announcement from Smith County said.
For nearly 20 years, she served as a pediatrician in East Texas at St. Paul’s Children’s Foundation in Tyler, according to the announcement.
Northeast Texas Public Health District CEO George Roberts said Smith is very well-trained and she has a great deal of experience to offer as the Smith County health authority.
County health authorities are physicians appointed to administer public health state and local laws, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
Their duties include:
- establishing, maintaining and enforcing jurisdictional quarantine orders;
- aiding local health boards or departments in quarantine inspections, disease prevention and suppression efforts;
- reporting the presence of contagious or infectious diseases to local and state authorities, among other things.
Smith is on the board of the East Texas Food Bank, NET Health and Texans Care for Children. The NET Health Board of Directors recommended her for the health authority role.