ROCKFORD (WIFR) -- After 24 years of continuous service, Dennis (Denny) Johnson will retire from SwedishAmerican Health System’s board of directors today. He most recently was chairman of the health system's Pastoral Care Committee and a member of its MSO Committee. Previously, Johnson served as chairman of the board from 1993 to 1994.

Johnson is president of Stockholm Inn, serves on the Rockford College Board of Trustees, the board of David C. Cook Publishing in Colorado Springs, Colo., and is founder and chairman of Kids Around the World. He also was President and CEO of The Johnson Group and served 16 years as 4th Ward Alderman in the City of Rockford. Denny and his wife, Evie, have three children and eight grandchildren.

Johnson served SwedishAmerican's board under three CEOs: Drs. Bob Henry, Robert Klint and Bill Gorski. "Dr. Bill Gorski is a great leader. The board has always been one of the best and most committed that I have served with and we have always been blessed to have had excellent chairmen," he says. "The staff and doctors of Swedes have always been the best. The building of the Heart Hospital and new Regional Cancer Center has and will continue to focus on the very best patient outcomes."

“The SwedishAmerican board of directors, management and employees thank Denny for his commitment to SwedishAmerican,” says President and CEO Dr. Bill Gorski. “He has upheld his beliefs and represented the health system and our community well during his tenure. His expertise and collegiality will be missed.”