Mattheus (Matthew) Smit, is a Regional Infection Prevention Nurse, or more specifically, preventionist, employed by the University of Kentucky. He is assigned to the Kentucky Department for Public Health (KDPH), Hospital-Acquired/Antibiotic-Resistance (HAI/AR) Program to support healthcare facilities (across the spectrum) in Western Kentucky.
He is a South African expatriate who emigrated to the United States in 2000 with his wife, a foreign nurse recruit sponsored by O'Grady Peyton to fulfill a nursing need during an acute shortage. His wife, Linda was the inspiration for him to also pursue a nursing career as he observed the incredible impact she made in the lives of her patients.
His career has taken him from Medical-surgical nursing at Rose Medical Center in Denver, CO, and Occupational Health Nursing at HCA Sky Ridge in Lone Tree, CO, to becoming the health and safety Executive at Macy's Logistics in Portland, TN, when the COVID-19 pandemic occurred. Wanting to be part of the solution, he joined KDPH in August 2019 under a CDC grant to support long-term care with COVID-19 responses in WKY and has been there since.
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