Aspire dedicates buildings to Hoak, Ward
Aspire Indiana Health will rededicate the building name for its primary medical care clinic in Anderson after Dr. Duane Hoak, a fixture in the local community as an educator, volunteer and longtime board director for Aspire and its legacy organizations.
Hoak has held various board memberships for Aspire continuously since 1987 and as chairman from 2015 to 2020. The Aspire primary care clinic at 2009 Brown St., which reopened last December after a $1.4 million renovation, will now be known as the Hoak building.
A retired professor of education from Anderson University, Hoak’s extensive lifetime of service includes work with many Madison County institutions such as the Salvation Army, United Way, Family Network Agency, Anderson Symphony Orchestra and the food pantry at Park Place Church of God. He is the recipient of the Sagamore of the Wabash and the Golden Hoosier Award, among many others. His name had adorned Aspire’s previous clinic location at 215 W. 19th St.
That building, which now functions as an administrative office, will be renamed in honor of James Ward. As a board director for Aspire Indiana Health, its legacy organizations and the Aspire Housing Board, Ward was instrumental in leading the organization through mergers and rapid expansion during the 1990s and early 2000s. Ward was a tireless advocate for affordable housing for the homeless and people with mental illness.
“We are proud to honor Duane Hoak and James Ward, two figures who are as responsible as anyone for helping shape Aspire Indiana Health into the ambitious, innovative nonprofit healthcare provider we are today,” said Barbara Scott, Aspire President & CEO. “Their model of servant leadership has been an inspiration for generations of Hoosiers.”
The renamed Hoak building was previously known as Bolin after Dr. Richard Bolin. A plaque will be installed inside Hoak to commemorate the legacy of Bolin, who served as Medical Director and Senior Psychiatrist for 28 years with The Center for Mental Health, one of the Aspire legacy organizations.
