Northwestern Names Executive Director of Health Service

EVANSTON, Ill. --- John Alexander has been named executive director of the Northwestern University Health Service (NUHS).

Alexander has served as medical director since 2006. He joined Northwestern in 2002 as a staff physician. In 2010, he assumed the additional role of interim executive director of NUHS.

Northwestern conducted an extensive search for the executive director position and determined that Alexander brings a wealth of knowledge to this role in addition to providing superb qualifications, according to Patricia Telles-Irvin, vice president for student affairs.

Alexander will provide both administrative and clinical supervision for 13 physicians, one nurse practitioner and three administrative staff members. He will oversee managers and staff of eight separate departments within NUHS. These departments include health information management services, health promotion and wellness, insurance, laboratory, outpatient services, patient accounts, pharmacy and radiology.

While serving as NUHS interim director, Alexander made significant contributions to the design and building of the new health services facility located in Searle Hall at 633 Emerson St. on the Evanston campus. He collaborated with architects, helped on the design process and assisted with the transition to the new building, which received LEED gold-level certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

NUHS made the transition to the new 54,000-square-foot facility in 2010. The original two-story building located on the west wing of the building was constructed in 1960 to provide space for outpatient clinics, ancillary services and a 44-bed infirmary.

The new facility includes outpatient and examination rooms, facilities for laboratory, radiology and pharmacy, conference and training rooms, and offices for administrative, information technology, support staff, health care practitioners and health educators. The infirmary was permanently closed in 2003. The counseling and psychological services (CAPS) department occupies the second floor and is separate from NUHS.

Alexander contributed also to the recent effort to gain recognition by the Accreditation Association on Ambulatory Health Care. In July 2012, the Health Service earned exceptional marks in all areas upon completion of the AAAHC survey, and the facility was fully accredited for three years.

Alexander received his medical degree in 1997 from the Feinberg School of Medicine, and he earned an MBA in 1975 from the Kellogg School of Management.