Smith appointed to new role at Care NE

Raina C. Smith has been appointed director of public relations, media relations, communications and government affairs for all of Care New England’s hospitals, clinics and service lines, effective July 12.

She will provide strategic leadership and overall direction for the system’s messaging of expertise in health care for the region, supporting the organization’s goal of providing quality, local wellness with an emphasis on what the community needs access to for ongoing health.

“Raina’s ability to share Care New England’s exceptional patient and provider stories in a way that lifts them up and allows for other lives to be improved with access to similar care, is fostered by her experience working in news, media and political communications roles, and the in relationships she has formed there as an expert in this field over time. Her work goes beyond leading a successful proactive communication strategy and lands squarely in the field of helping to promote wellness within our lives here. The way that she can craft a story out of the clinical successes that we see here every day, allows viewers and readers to immediately see how these wellness measures can better their own lives. And, her passion for writing goes beyond the 9-5 job, with her four novels that I’m currently enjoying reading and would recommend wholeheartedly,” Jess McCarthy, VP of marketing and communications for Care New England Health System, said in a statement.

Smith’s religious thriller trilogy series includes “The 13th Apostle,” “Divine Providence” and “Thy Kingdom Come.” Separately, Raina also wrote a vampire novel, titled, “The Vampire,” which is set in Newport. She has appeared on the “Studio 10” program on WJAR-TV, where she talked about her writing process, what inspires her, and what she hopes readers take away from her work. She has also appeared on other shows, including WPRI-TV’s “The Rhode Show,” as well as in other media, such as, radio programs, magazines and newspapers.

A Cranston resident, Smith grew up in North Scituate, where she attended Scituate Jr.-Sr. High School. She later went on to attend Rhode Island College, where she majored in communications and graduated cum laude. Her professional career began in television news 20 years ago, working locally as a television news reporter for both WPRI-TV and ABC6 News, and later as co-host of the WPRO Morning Show on 630 WPRO radio.

Her career path took a turn out of broadcasting and into politics back in 2013, when she served as director of communications for then Secretary of State A. Ralph Mollis.