Smitha Ravipudi

Smitha Ravipudi serves as CEO of USC Care and Ambulatory Care Services, which includes Keck Medicine of USC hospital-based clinics, Keck School of Medicine department clinics and outpatient joint venture partnerships and community practices. She directs strategy and operations in coordination with system leadership, focusing on integration to enhance access and quality and executing opportunities to improve care coordination and optimize the ambulatory care workforce.

Under Smitha’s leadership, Keck Medicine opened the Norris Healthcare Center, a world-class specialty care facility with an emphasis on cancer care, women’s specialty care and urology. Turning the lights on at that facility was a career highlight for her, and capped off a significant effort to conceive, plan and open the facility with her team and physician leaders. Smitha also chairs Keck’s Diversity and Inclusion Steering Committee. As a first-generation American, she is passionate about helping Keck Medicine identify gaps and purse opportunities to accelerate diversity across the system.

Smitha is highly regarded for her intentional and unflappable approach to leadership that empowers and inspires those around her. Known as an innovator in the ambulatory care environment, she is dedicated to keeping patients at the forefront and finding new and better ways to work with physicians. Her early interest in a medical career was rerouted following a year with AmeriCorps, where she worked for the Boys & Girls Club of Chicago and developed an interest in public health education. A regular cadence of doors opening and finding new areas of interest led to her career of working with physicians.

Prior to joining Keck Medicine, Smith was vice president of access and ambulatory operations at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, ranked fifth in the nation by the U.S. News & World Report Best Children's Hospitals Honor Roll. At CHLA, she oversaw the outpatient clinics, community ambulatory care centers, preservice and access operations (inpatient and outpatient), patient relations and service excellence. She created and directed a multiyear effort to move from 100% paper-based record keeping to an ambulatory electronic medical record, including development of patient and physician portals and meaningful use attestation. She also oversaw the opening of five regional outpatient centers and the hospital’s first appointment center.

Smitha holds a master’s degree in public health from Columbia University and a bachelor of science in human communication sciences from Northwestern University. She was named to the Los Angeles Business Journal’s list of Top Women in Health Care in 2020.