Jackson Healthcare, an Atlanta-based healthcare staffing provider, named former Georgia state senator Preston Smith as president of Tyler & Company, a healthcare executive search firm that is part of Jackson Healthcare. Smith replaces founder Larry Tyler, who is retiring from the firm but will remain personally active in the healthcare industry.

Smith comes to Jackson from ApolloMD, an Atlanta-based enterprise that serves 3.9 million patients through hospitals and physicians nationwide. He was chief revenue officer and chief compliance officer, and also oversaw the company’s professional liability insurance program. From 2008 to 2015 at Apollo, Smith served as president of anesthesia services.

From 2003 to 2011, Smith was a state senator in the Georgia General Assembly, where he chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee and served as a member of Appropriations, Health & Human Services and other committees. Prior to public service, his legal practice included healthcare and hospital law, medical malpractice defense, litigation and physician practice contracts.

“I am excited by the vision, energy and values Preston brings to Tyler & Company,” said Jackson Healthcare President R. Shane Jackson. “He understands healthcare and I am confident that under his leadership Tyler & Company will continue to provide the amazing quality of service to executives and medical facilities for which it is known.”

Tyler & Company has about 34 employees and offices in Atlanta and Philadelphia. Jackson Healthcare ranks fourth on Staffing Industry Analysts’ 2016 list largest healthcare staffing firms in the US.