Iroquois County Physician Elected President, ISMS

April 28, 2023

CHICAGO – Rodney S. Alford, MD, MBA, was elected president of the Illinois State Medical Society (ISMS) during its recent annual meeting.

Dr. Alford received his medical degree from Loyola Stritch School of Medicine in Maywood, Illinois and completed his residency at Cook County Hospital (Stroger) in both internal medicine and pediatrics. He also received an MBA from Olivet Nazarene University and is board-certified in pediatrics. Dr. Alford served in the rural community of Pembroke Township, Illinois for almost 30 years, and then practiced at the Iroquois Memorial Hospital Multi-Specialty Clinic in Watseka, Illinois. He also worked at Aunt Martha’s Clinic in Danville, Illinois for three years. He recently accepted a new position as medical director for the Pontiac Correctional Center.

An ISMS member for 36 years, a past president of the Kankakee Medical Society, and a member of Riverside Medical Center’s Board of Directors and has also served as an ISMS regional trustee. Most recently, he served as the president-elect of ISMS.

Dr. Alford has received many awards including the Illinois Environmental Hero Award in 2005, the Thomas Jefferson Award for Public Service from NBC Chicago, the Illinois Rural Health Practitioner of the Year award twice in his career, and the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award for Outstanding Public Service Benefiting Local Communities (the highest award given in America for public service). He was selected by the American Hospital Association and the American Medical Association as one of the 50 Most Positive Doctors in America.

Dr. Alford’s term as ISMS president will run through April 2024.