Gina Smith will be remembered for her dedication to training hundreds/thousands of people on accounting and eFinance long after her retirement at the end of this year. She was also an innovator, playing a critical role in the development of the company’s first standardized financial management system more than 20 years ago, which is still in use today.
Starting as a secretary in a Morrison regional office in 1983, Gina utilized her skills in bookkeeping and mathematics over the past 41 years to lead Compass One’s field training program across the country.
Promoted to Senior Director of Field Applications in 2012, Gina’s team has trained account operators nationwide. During the 2024 fiscal year, her team of specialists facilitated training in over 350 new account openings for Morrison and other Compass One companies.
Her passion for this work and commitment to improving results also enabled her to achieve significant personal goals at a turning point in her life. As a single parent, she took advantage of the Morrison Educational Reimbursement Program to complete her bachelor’s degree in business administration at Middle Tennessee State University. This accomplishment made her a life-long supporter of the program and she believes it’s a key ingredient to the company’s success.
“The value of our employees is one of our company’s biggest assets and I believe continuing education is critical to supporting the company’s growth,” she says.
A History of Field Training
From the start of her career, Gina demonstrated a keen ability to train new employees on accounting and billing policies. During her time in the regional office, from 1983 through 1993, she occasionally traveled around the Southeast to set up bookkeeping when Morrison contracted with a new hospital.
There were no computers at that time, so all bookkeeping was done manually. “I helped set up the bookkeeping, reporting, and trained the directors, & office staff on the proper accounting procedures. I recall thinking at that time that I wanted to do this kind of work on a full-time basis,” she says.
Not too long after that, a career-changing opportunity came along.
In 1993 Gina transferred to Ascension St. Thomas Midtown Hospital (formerly Baptist Hospital) in Nashville as the office manager. Morrison had recently released its first attempt at a standardized business application. MCAS (Morrison Computerized Accounting System) outsourced with EDS Electronic Data Systems. Gina became and expert of that system and was asked to assist with training other accounts.
Although this system didn’t work out and eventually was discontinued, Gina’s new expertise caught the attention of the Information Technology department and set her on a new career path. She became the first Field Training Specialist and helped set up the in-unit accounting system for many accounts in the years that followed.
“The biggest new account openings I personally oversaw was the 1999 Tenet contract, which at the time was the largest outsourcing award in healthcare,” she recalls. “I traveled for months and visited all 99 of the Tenet hospitals training and setting up accounting. She also helped with the opening of other major clients at that time, including Norton Hospital in Louisville, Ky., and UMass Memorial Health.
Building a New Financial Accounting System
This was just the beginning of a career full of firsts. With her expertise in computers and finance, Gina became the operations lead for the development of eFinance, Morrison’s web-based financial management system.
“My biggest career accomplishment is the role I played in developing eFinance, the financial management system we still used today. It had an enormous impact on the company, dramatically improved Compass One’s competitiveness in the healthcare contract food service industry.”
At the time, eFinance was developed, Gina says Morrison Healthcare had less than $500 million in annual revenue. Today the system serves Morrison Compass One in MHC, TSS, and CCL with over $5.0 billion in annual revenue.
After her promotion to Director of Field Applications in 2002, the Field Applications Specialist Team (FAST) was established. This team trains Compass One associates on eFinance, provides new business support, and drives process improvements that enhance the company’s results.
With the entire country to cover, it became apparent that the FASTeam could not keep up with demand and needed more experts in the field. Gina established the eChampion program to expand support throughout the country and provide better local support within each region. More than 150 eChampions have been promoted to higher positions, demonstrating how the program helps elevate careers. The eChampion program recently celebrated its 20th anniversary.
Giving Credit to Key Leaders
Gina credits several key mentors for her success, including Richard Roberson, who is now retired. He helped launch her career by offering her the initial training role in the 1980s, teaching her many accounting fundamentals, and allowing her to take time off during the summers to complete her bachelor’s degree.
Other mentors she acknowledges include Compass Group Senior Vice President Dawn Himes. She also credits former Vice President and Controller at Morrison Management Specialists Kenny Eiland and Doug Arie who have both retired.
“Each one of these outstanding people showed me a different perspective about connecting with customers and seeking to understand their needs and meeting them on their level.”
As Gina prepares for retirement, she looks forward to spending more time with her two grandsons. She has already made plans to travel to Ireland with one of them to visit the town where her family members lived before immigrating to the United States.
Until then, she will look back on her career with pride in a job well done.
