Rush Oak Park Hospital has named longtime board member Everett Ward as chair of its Board of Directors, recognizing his deep commitment to the community and decades of leadership across the Chicago region. Ward, who has served on the board since 2019 and most recently as vice chair, succeeds Gary McCullough, who retired from the position in October. In addition to leading the Rush Oak Park Hospital board, Ward will continue to serve on the Rush University System for Health Board.
As board chair, Ward will help guide Rush Oak Park Hospital’s mission to provide compassionate, high-quality care while further strengthening its partnerships with the community it serves.
Ward brings extensive professional experience in real estate law, business strategy and nonprofit leadership. He is a partner in the Real Estate Group at Fox Swibel Levin & Carroll, LLP, where he represents corporate, commercial and not-for-profit clients in the acquisition, disposition, financing and leasing of real estate. He is a fellow of both the American College of Real Estate Lawyers and the American College of Mortgage Attorneys, where he serves on the Board of Regents, distinctions that reflect his national standing within the legal community.
Ward earned his law degree from Harvard Law School and holds a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Princeton University.
Beyond his professional accomplishments, Ward is a respected civic leader whose volunteer work spans community development, mental health, cultural institutions and economic growth initiatives across the Chicago area. He is a former member of the Economic Club of Chicago and helped shape Oak Park’s economic landscape as a board and executive committee member of the Oak Park Economic Development Corporation from 2013 to 2019. He served as a trustee of the Field Museum from 2009 to 2024, contributing his leadership to one of Chicago’s most renowned cultural institutions. Ward is also a past board member of Thresholds, one of Illinois’ largest providers of mental health services, and served as its board president from 2000 to 2002.
Ward and his wife have lived in Oak Park since 1990, reinforcing his personal connection to the community served by Rush Oak Park Hospital.
