Travis Smith named Parkland Chief Financial Officer
Experienced healthcare finance leader joins Parkland from University Health in San Antonio
Travis L. Smith has joined Parkland Health as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, bringing more than two decades of healthcare and financial leadership experience to the organization.
Smith joined Parkland in September, succeeding Richard Humphrey, who retired after nine years of service to the health system.
Smith comes to Parkland from University Health in San Antonio, where he most recently served as Chief Financial Officer of Clinical Operations. He previously served as Deputy Chief Financial Officer for the organization. During his tenure, Smith provided financial leadership for an integrated academic health system with more than 13,000 employees, an 873-bed hospital, a health plan with more than 150,000 covered lives and more than $4.2 billion in annual operations.
His experience includes financial and strategic planning, hospital and physician practice operations, capital financing, supply chain management, productivity improvement, and financial modeling for growth initiatives. At University Health, Smith also helped support the financing of two 286-bed community hospitals scheduled to open in 2027 and led initiatives designed to improve operational performance and ensure responsible use of resources.
“Travis brings extensive healthcare finance experience along with a strong understanding of the complexities of an academic health system,” said Fred Cerise, MD, MPH, President and CEO of Parkland Health. “His ability to work collaboratively with clinical and operational leaders while maintaining a strong focus on financial stewardship will be important as Parkland continues to grow and plan for the future healthcare needs of Dallas County.”
Smith said Parkland’s mission and role in the community were among the things that attracted him to the organization.
“Parkland has an extraordinary legacy of caring for the people of Dallas County, and I am honored to join an organization with such a strong commitment to its public mission,” Smith said. “Sound financial stewardship is essential to ensuring Parkland has the resources to continue providing high-quality care today while investing wisely in the people, facilities and services our community will need in the future. I look forward to working alongside Parkland’s clinical, operational and financial teams to support that mission.”
Before joining University Health, Smith held several financial leadership positions with Baylor Scott & White Health, including Vice President of Finance and Entity CFO for McLane Children’s Hospital & Clinics. Earlier in his career, he worked in financial and patient access roles at Venice Regional Medical Center and Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital.
Smith began his healthcare career as a Medicaid Eligibility Specialist with the Texas Health and Human Services Commission at Brackenridge Hospital in Austin, conducting eligibility interviews with medically indigent patients seeking assistance through programs including Medicaid.
Smith earned dual Master of Business Administration and Master of Healthcare Administration degrees, with honors, from the University of Houston-Clear Lake and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of North Texas. He is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and a Fellow of the Healthcare Financial Management Association. He also completed the Texas Hospital Association Leadership Fellows program.
For more information about Parkland, please visit www.parklandhealth.org.
Back