Community Foundation of Northwest Indiana, Inc.’s Don Fesko receives Boy Scouts Pathway to Adventure Council’s Distinguished Citizen Award

Community Foundation of Northwest Indiana, Inc.’s Don Fesko receives Boy Scouts Pathway to Adventure Council’s Distinguished Citizen Award

Pathway to Adventure Council, Boy Scouts of America, has presented Donald P. Fesko, OD, MBA, FACHE, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Community Foundation of Northwest Indiana, Inc. (CFNI), with the 2019 Distinguished Citizen Award. CFNI is the parent company of Community Healthcare System that includes Community Hospital, Munster, St. Catherine Hospital, East Chicago, St. Mary Medical Center, Hobart; specialty hospital Community Stroke & Rehabilitation Center in Crown Point and Hartsfield Village, a continuing care retirement community in Munster.

The award was presented to Fesko on Tuesday, October 15 at The Center for Visual and Performing Arts in Munster.

Each year, the Boy Scouts of America’s Pathway to Adventure Council presents the Distinguished Citizen Award to an individual whose selfless efforts have had a positive impact on their communities in Northwest Indiana and across the state. Recipients are selected for their outstanding service as evidenced by their leadership to many worthwhile organizations as well as the respect and esteem in which they are held by their colleagues.

Under Fesko’s leadership and guidance, the hospitals of Community Healthcare System and their affiliates have been recognized by numerous local, state and national organizations for outstanding care. The Northwest Indiana healthcare system’s vast network of care locations includes outpatient, surgical and rehabilitation centers, physician practices, behavioral health, occupational health, home care, a medically-based fitness center, cancer research foundation, and cancer support center. Community Healthcare System hospitals are known as regional leaders in cancer treatment, cardiac care, bariatric medicine, and orthopedics.

Fesko also serves on the board of directors for Peoples Bank, the Advisory Council of Indiana University School of Medicine, the board of directors for Hospice of the Calumet Area and is president of the Community Cancer Research Foundation, Inc.

Fesko holds a master’s in Business Administration from Indiana University Northwest, a bachelor of science in Economics from Purdue University as well as a Doctor of Optometry from Indiana University. In 2009, Fesko achieved Fellow Status in the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). He also was recipient of the Robert S. Hudgens Memorial Award in 2012, chosen as the Young Healthcare Executive of the Year. In 2013, Fesko was appointed as chairman of the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority by then-Governor Mike Pence. In addition, Fesko was honored with the Executive Regent’s Award for the State of Indiana, which he received in 2014 from ACHE.

For more information about the programs and services at the hospitals of Community Healthcare System, visit COMHS.org.

Boy Scouts of America’s Pathway to Adventure Council spans two states suburban Chicago, Illinois and Northwest Indiana. The council serves more than 21,000 youth members and includes more than 8,000 adult volunteers and has four service centers. To find out more about the Pathway to Adventure Council, click on http://www.pathwaytoadventure.org/.