2 February 2021 - - Maurice Smith, president and chief executive officer of Health Care Service Corp, has been appointed as an independent member of US-based Ventas, Inc's (NYSE: VTR) board of directors effective immediately, the company said.

HCSC is the largest customer-owned health insurer in the United States, covering over 16m members across its Blue Cross and Blue Shield health plans in five states.

Smith is a national leader in healthcare, with over 25 years of experience in fiscal, strategic and operations leadership in the health insurance industry.

Smith was named CEO of HCSC in 2020, when he was also recognized as one of Modern Healthcare's 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare.

He is a member of the board of the Economic Club of Chicago, World Business Chicago and Roosevelt University, and a Trustee of the Civic Federation.

Smith began his career at HCSC in 1993 and has served in a wide variety of roles, including business development, corporate transactions and as president of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois.

HCSC is the fifth largest health insurer in the United States.

Headquartered in Chicago, HCSC has combined annual revenues of approximately USD 46bn, over 272,000 physicians and other providers in its network, more than 24,000 employees and over 16m members across its Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Illinois, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.