LSU’s newest executive director of the Student Health Center, Keena Smith, has returned to her Louisiana roots after a hiatus in Texas following Hurricane Katrina.
Her 20-year-long career in healthcare and social work has taught her lessons in leadership, compassion, humanity and how best to serve the public.
A native of the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans, Smith started college at the University of New Orleans. But soon after she evacuated for Hurricane Katrina at 20 years old with her newborn son, she enrolled in a community college for two years.
She worked full time as a single mom in childcare while at the community college before transferring to University of Texas at Arlington, where she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work.
“I was a single mom at the time, and it gave me the flexibility to be able to work full time and get a discount on childcare while I was going to school full time,” Smith said.
While in school for her master’s she worked as a case manager in an LGBTQ+ HIV clinic, where she discovered her passion for healthcare education and how important it is to provide proper care and support.
Smith said that the more knowledgeable someone is, the more likely they will make a well-informed decision about their health. She hopes to share this knowledge with LSU students.
“I would say education and making sure the education is accurate and easily accessible is important,” Smith said. “I think especially in an environment like this, finding ways to make sure that we’re getting that information to students in the most efficient way, I think is going to be super important.”
Shortly after graduating with her master’s, Smith joined the Methodist Health System in Texas and worked her way up from manager to director of care management. She got the job one week before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S., an experience she described as a “trial by fire.”
“That chapter of my career, I would say if I learned anything, I learned how to lead through tragedy,” Smith said.
Smith moved back to Baton Rouge when she married her wife and has lived in the state since 2023. Her son, a junior business major at LSU, is another plus for Smith joining the LSU community.
She is no stranger to the rollercoaster of demands a healthcare job requires. She says she is ready to bring her vast knowledge and experience to LSU and offer students the best healthcare support she can. Her time in healthcare and social work has presented challenges, but also plenty of opportunities to learn how to be an effective and caring leader.
“I think that my greatest lesson was just really seeing the strength in people during trauma and tragedy and how if you are willing to persevere together, you can get through it,” Smith said.
As she begins her time at LSU, she hopes to connect with students on a personal level to learn what they need and want from the Student Health Center so she can help them in impactful ways.
“I’m still hoping to get more feedback, start figuring out the needs, building those relationships with the students and the staff and the faculty so we can see where that next step is for the Student Health Center,” Smith said.
Smith is hopeful and optimistic that she can reach more students and advocate for the unique resources the center offers like specialities in dermatology and allergies.
“One of the things I can say that allows us to stand apart and differentiates us from other places is that we offer those niche services that you may not necessarily think are offered in the Student Health Center,” Smith said.
One of the many things Smith is passionate about is education in the health and wellness sector.
As Louisiana continues to rank at the bottom of healthcare in America, Smith is dedicated to teaching the next generation of adults how to ask for help when they need it.
“I think for a lot of students it’s overwhelming. You’re walking into adulthood and you want to believe that you can manage all of these things, right?” Smith said. “Because you see the people around you, your parents, the adults managing it and it looks so easy.”
Smith said that when she was in college, she was trying to get things done by herself without asking for help. She didn’t know help was available.
“I wish I had the foresight or someone to tell me, ‘Hey, there’s services that could help you, and from those services you can get extra help with your classes,’” Smith said.
Smith addressed the current partnership between LSU and the private Catholic hospital Our Lady of the Lake and the controversy it has drawn from students and stakeholders alike. She said that in a meeting with administration from both LSU and OLOL, there has been nothing but positive goals and visions discussed.
“I walked in with a very good understanding of some of the concerns around it and I walked in very excited about the collaboration with Our Lady of the Lake,” Smith said. “Our interactions have been great and I think the goal and the vision Our Lady of the Lake and LSU have is the same: to serve every student.”
Smith is confident and excited at the prospect of what is next to come for the Student Health Center.
“I want them to know that they can come here, that they feel safe, that this is a place for them to seek treatment and care and that every student will come here and be taken care of,” Smith said. “It’s important to us and it’s important to me.”
