FHCA Honors Agency for Health Care Administration Leader with Champion for the Elderly Award

Deputy Secretary Kim Smoak Recognized for Outstanding Support to Long Term Care Centers During Natural Disasters

Tallahassee, Fla. – The Florida Health Care Association (FHCA) today awarded Deputy Secretary of the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), Kim Smoak, with the 2024 Champion for the Elderly Award. The award was presented by FHCA during the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) Joint Training for Skilled Nursing Facilities in Tallahassee.
 
“Deputy Secretary Smoak is the epitome of a Champion for the Elderly and more than deserving of this honor,” said Emmett Reed, CEO of FHCA. “She has dedicated her career to ensuring Florida’s aging population receives the highest quality of care. Her expertise and institutional knowledge in long term care is invaluable. When we face emergencies like the recent Hurricanes Helene and Milton, Deputy Secretary Smoak works around the clock to make available all state resources to our healthcare partners, as well as our residents and caregivers.”
 
The FHCA Champion for the Elderly Award is presented to individuals who have gone above and beyond to advocate for and enhance the care being delivered in Florida’s long term care centers. Over 200 long term care providers and AHCA surveyors were among those in attendance during the Joint Training, both in-person and virtually, to witness Smoak accept this prestigious award.
 
Smoak has been with AHCA since 1995. As the Deputy Secretary of the Division of Health Quality Assurance, she oversees the licenses and/or certifications and regulations of 40 different types of providers, including hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, and home health agencies.
 
During emergency and crisis situations, most recently being Hurricanes Helene and Milton, Smoak strategically coordinates with relevant state agencies and the FHCA Emergency Response Team on outreach to long term care centers as they prepare for the storm impact, through evacuations or sheltering in place. She provides valuable updates and information on the association's daily Emergency Preparedness Partnership Briefings for providers and in the off season, is a key partner in stakeholder meetings and trainings to ensure FHCA member centers are prepared.
 
Florida's long term care centers implement year-round preparations, comprehensive planning, and supplemental trainings, along with meeting compliance regulations issued by AHCA and the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
 
Additionally, each year Smoak is a keynote speaker at the FHCA Annual Conference & Trade Show to provide an agency update to members.
 
Smoak is also the State Survey Agency Director for the State of Florida. She holds a Master of Science in Health with a program emphasis in Aging Studies and is also a Qualified Intellectual Disability Professional (QIDP). In 2009 and 2017, she received Survey & Certification Achievement Awards, presented by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for her work in Survey and Certification.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 30, 2024

PRESS CONTACT:
Kristen Knapp, APR
850-510-4389 or kknapp@fhca.org