Herbert “Herb” J. Vallier served as Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer and Chief Executive Officer of SmartHealth Solutions for Ascension from 2013-2024. He served as a member of the Ascension Leadership Team responsible for the operating model integration, workforce strategy and oversight of Human Resources for approximately 134,000 associates and 35,000 affiliated providers. Ascension generates approximately $28 billion total operating revenue from more than 2,600 sites of care including 140 hospitals and more than 40 senior living facilities in 19 states and the District of Columbia, while providing services through subsidiaries including Ascension Ventures (healthcare venture capital investing); Ascension Investment Management (an SEC-registered investment advisor managing investment portfolios); Trimedx (clinical engineering); Medxcel (the largest sole provider of healthcare facilities services in the U.S.); The Resource Group (supply chain and contracting organization), and Ascension Global Mission (supports international efforts that improve the health and well-being of poor and vulnerable populations in developing countries).

He was a member of the Ascension Health Board of Trustees from 2006-2013 prior to joining the executive leadership team, with appointments as Vice Chair, and Chair of the Executive Compensation and Pension Committees. His board service while on the Ascension leadership team included membership on the AMITA Health Board of Directors with an appointment on the Executive Compensation Committee, and as a member of the Catholic Healthcare Audit Network Associate Services Committee.

His more than 30 years of executive leadership experience included serving as the Executive Vice President/CHRO for Dignity Health, a faith based health system serving California, Arizona and Nevada. Prior to joining Dignity Health, he served as Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Catholic Health Initiatives, after serving on the Catholic Health Initiatives Board of Stewardship Trustees with appointments on the Executive Compensation and Strategic Planning Committees.

Herb served as the Executive Vice President CHRO for Revlon, Inc., and as the Director of Strategic Staffing for the Office of the President and Provost at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. He has held leadership positions in human resources and administration with Central Massachusetts Health Care, Inc., Health America Corporation, and Shell
Oil Company. He also served in the United States Air Force Chaplain’s Service and Social Actions Division.

He served as co-chairman of the Harvard University Association of Black Faculty and Administrators. He partnered with the Workplace Diversity Network, a joint project of the National Conference for Community and Justice and the ILR School at Cornell University on an industry-defining diversity project. The project focused on creating a framework for building organizational inclusion and developing a diversity inclusion model. He served on the Catholic Health Association’s We Are Called Pledge Advisory Group, and was a past member of the Catholic Health Association Diversity and Health Disparities Committee.

Herb received his bachelor’s degree in personnel and labor relations from the University of Maryland, College Park, and completed the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School.