CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — The doctor who was president and CEO of Chicago’s Shirley Ryan AbilityLab for the past 15 years died of cancer Monday.
Since 2006, Dr. Joanne Smith, 60, has led the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, formerly known as the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. Smith joined the Rehab Institute in 1988 for her medical residency and never left.
“She was just driven by getting the very best outcome for our patients,” Peggy Kirk, chief operating officer at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, told WBBM Newsradio. She worked with Smith for 30 years.
Kirk said before Smith became CEO, the clinical arm of the Rehab Institute and the research arm were on different floors before Smith suggested they should be closer.
“It quickly dawned on her that we needed to have the researchers and the clinicians working together so that all their good work gets applied to the patients’ benefit,” Kirk said.
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