President/Principal

Judy Smith is an experienced management consultant, facility planner, active lecturer, author and strategist. She works with women and children’s health services exclusively, and serves on numerous professional committees in this field. Her experience includes the completion of more than 1,000 women and children’s projects in the US and six countries, often for repeat clients.

Judy has devoted her career and significant personal time to improving the environments for women and children’s health. She has been instrumental in promoting family integrated birth care. She helped introduce the single-family room NICU model to some of the first projects in North America to incorporate these concepts. She is a founding member of the Recommended Standards for NICU Design’s international consensus committee. She serves on a national fetal therapy think tank, is the facilitator of a national children’s hospital environment network, and has lectured throughout the world on women and children’s health service innovations and facilities.

She was appointed to serve on the committee to update FGI hospital design guidelines as an obstetrics, nursery, NICU and children’s planning specialist. She chaired the development of freestanding birth center guidelines and the first children’s hospital chapter. These guidelines are used or referenced as regulation by 43 US states and the Joint Commission (Appointed to committee for past editions and 2022).

A native of North Carolina, she started her healthcare career at WakeMed in Raleigh, and worked with several other health systems before moving into the world of management consulting. She co-founded the firm, Smith Hager Bajo in 1995. The firm, based in Arizona, has helped hospitals shape the future of women and children’s health for more than 25 years.

Mallard Owen is an experienced entrepreneur and executive who has managed businesses in the fields of health/wellness, information technology, training and the arts. As a trusted advisor to Smith Hager Bajo, he was instrumental in the founding of the company and continues to provide his expertise in the areas of business development, marketing, communications, and information technology. Mal has also been on the boards of several non-profit service and professional organizations.

Mal has several research articles published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Mal moved into the business world where he founded two companies focused on health and fitness. His intellectual curiosity and penchant for innovation have helped guide Smith Hager Bajo with over 2000 national and international clients, since its inception.