Franciscan St. Anthony Health-Crown Point Physician Applauded for 50 Years’ Service to Hospital, Community

Franciscan-John-KingJohn King, M.D., Franciscan St. Anthony Health-Crown Point vice president of medical affairs, recently was congratulated by the Indiana State Medical Association and the American Medical Association for 50 years in practice.

Your dedication to the well-being of Hoosiers reflects admirably on our profession and makes all of us proud,” King was told in a letter from Thomas Vidic, M.D., and James McIntire, president and vice president, respectively, of the state association. “Your commitment to organized medicine has allowed the ISMA to continue serving patients and physicians throughout the state ... Members like you who remain committed during changing times sustain our advocacy efforts and safeguard our profession for future generations.”

King, who accepts the accolades humbly, has no plans to retire, as of now.

When it stops being a challenge, I will step aside. I see myself taking single steps at a time. If there is not a specific challenge, that’s when I might decide to take another journey,” said King, 76, an obstetrics-gynecology specialist, who delivered some 10,000 babies before taking his administrative role 16 years ago. He has been with the hospital since it opened in 1974 and was brought on in 1973 to chair and organize the obstetrics-gynecology department.

These days, King oversees 330 physicians and serves on most of the hospital’s committees. He has served as president of the medical staff and heads the hospital ethics committee. About a year ago, he became a member of National Catholic Bioethics Center.

To help people,” is his reason for joining the medical field. But he also terms it a spiritual calling of sorts.

In the OB field, you take care of the whole person. The mixture of surgery and general medicine appealed to me,” King said.

Technological changes are the most significant of those he has witnessed, but there are others.

Trust in the physician has changed; these days they are being challenged more by patients and families as far as treatment options. It used to be more of a patriarchal relationship. But these days, the patient acts with more autonomy and is given more of a choice of what can be done for their treatment,” he added.

The Gary native and wife Rose, who reside in Crown Point, also celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary this year. She retired 16 years ago after becoming a nurse the same year King became a physician.

David Ruskowski, hospital president, praised King’s impact on the hospital and on the community.

For many years, our community has benefited from the caring manner and skills of Dr. John King, first as a very busy OB/GYN specialist and for the last 16 years as vice president of medical affairs for Franciscan St. Anthony Health-Crown Point."

Dr. King cares about patients, caregivers, the community and the Franciscan Alliance organization and has greatly contributed to the well-being and success of all. We are most fortunate to work alongside him,” Ruskowski said.

King sums up his philosophy of medicine and life simply.

You have to live, work and enjoy every minute, because you don’t know what the future holds. Just take it one day at a time.”