James Alender to receive Distinguished Service Award
April 13, 2006
KOKOMO, Ind.—CEO and President of Howard Regional Health System James P. Alender of Kokomo will receive the 2006 Distinguished Service Award Saturday, April 29, during the IU Kokomo Alumni Association’s Cream and Crimson Dinner. Alumni and friends are invited to honor Alender at the 6 p.m. dinner in Kelley Student Center. Reservations are required; contact the IU Kokomo Office of Alumni Relations
alumni@iuk.edu or (765) 455-9411.
Chair of the Chancellor’s Advisory Board since 1999, Alender has “been a key player in the recent success this campus has attained in many areas,” said Chancellor Ruth Person. “I value Jim Alender’s support and leadership, and look forward to working with him on initiatives in the future.”
Alender was active in the campus campaign to build a new library in the 1990s, and has taught as an adjunct faculty member in business. Along with Chuck Bucheri and Tonya Goodier, Alender co-chaired the 2003–2004 Kresge Science Initiative, which raised more than one-half million dollars for a science equipment endowment. Bucheri said Alender’s involvement convinced him to join the effort. “A capital campaign without bricks and mortar is one of the most difficult to accomplish,” Bucheri said. “The Kresge Initiative was difficult, but Jim and the IU Kokomo staff would not give up, and the challenge was met.
“Jim is a tireless leader who gives to many causes in both name and financial resources,” Bucheri added. “He has provided collaborative participation with Chancellor Person on many issues and expanded Howard Regional’s partnering with IU Kokomo.”
Alender holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial management from Purdue University, and a graduate degree from the University of Wisconsin School of Commercial Finance–Banking. From 1986–1995, he worked as a senior bank executive, first for Ameritrust Bank in Indianapolis, and then for Key Bank in Kokomo.
In 1995, he became vice president for strategic planning with Kokomo’s Howard Community Hospital, which was later renamed Howard Regional Health System (HRHS). Two years later, Alender became the hospital’s president and CEO. In 2003, American College of Health Care Executives presented Alender its Northern Indiana Regents Award and Hospital Administrator of Year award.
Accepting a job that would keep him and his family in Kokomo was one reason Alender switched from banking to health care, according to Ted Brown, chief operating officer for HRHS. “Jim has led the Howard Regional Health System team of dedicated employees and physicians to record high levels of quality health services and financial performance. Revenues have more than doubled in the past five years, and the added health services available at Howard have made it almost a one-stop shopping experience.”
A strong proponent of education for youth and adults, Alender has long endorsed the hospital’s programs of tuition reimbursement for employees, Brown said, including full funding of the Indiana University Kokomo Master of Science in Nursing program for several HRHS nurses.
Alender is a member of Kokomo Rotary Club, the American Cancer Society, and The Community Foundation of Howard County. He has served as chairman of the Kokomo YWCA Board of Trustees, and as a member of the boards of Kokomo Country Club, United Way of Howard County, The Community Foundation of Howard County, and the Howard Community Hospital Foundation.
