WES Health System was founded in July 1992 as a successor of previous organizations that were committed to providing behavioral health care since the mid-1970s. This successor organization was officially named Dr. Warren E. Smith Health Centers (WES) in 1994. Through the years, WES’ staff has been providing services to the community and has been instrumental in the broad expansion of services to individuals and families. WES is based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area and began providing behavioral health care and other human services to individuals living in areas that are plagued by high crime rates, unemployment, and other social problems. WES Health System has expanded to additional metropolitan areas to provide behavioral health care to a variety of individuals and families.
WES Health System and its subsidiary companies were named after Dr. Warren E. Smith, a prominent African American psychiatrist who was committed to providing quality behavioral health care to the under-served. Beginning his career in 1954, Dr. Warren E. Smith was one of the first African American psychiatrists; he was revered as a highly principled man who was deeply sensitive to the problems of minorities living in the Philadelphia area.