Greg Conrad ’81, ’04, retired in January after a 37-year career working in health care administration. He most recently served as President of Beacon Health Ventures – the home health and professional services division of Beacon Health System, which is nationally recognized as a leader in high-quality care and innovative customer service.

“I have found my career very rewarding as I’ve always felt that health care as a service was so important that it gave the jobs I had purpose and meaning,” he says.

After graduating from Bethel College with a double major in accounting and business administration and a minor in economics, Conrad launched his career by taking a position as an internal auditor with Health Quest.

Conrad teaches at Bethel as an adjunct faculty member, something he hopes to continue to do despite his retirement from Beacon.

In 1989, he began working at Memorial Hospital and Health System as the accounting manager for a home and community based services division. He was promoted to the director of finance and eventually named vice president of the division in 2004. Four years later, Conrad was named vice president of Beacon Health System when Elkhart General Hospital and Memorial Hospital and Health System combined. Finally, in 2013, he was named president of Beacon Health Ventures.

“From a personal career perspective, I consider the fact that I’ve been successful both on the financial side as well as the operational side a highlight,” Conrad says. “I had purpose and meaning. I always considered the awards or recognitions that my areas received as validation of the efforts of a team [of] people.”

Throughout his career, Bethel has remained a part of his life. Conrad has been teaching as an adjunct professor since 2001, and returned to Bethel as a student to complete his MBA in 2004. He’s currently teaching two courses on health care administration, and hopes to continue teaching despite his retirement.

Conrad’s father, Don ’50, was the first four-year graduate of Bethel. His son Andrew was the first MBA student to complete all of his coursework online.

With his extensive knowledge of both health care and higher education, it’s not hard for Conrad to see how the two intertwine.

“Changing demographics, consumerism, the application of new technology, regulatory and governmental influence, and the need for new business models will continue to create dynamic environments for both industries [which] mean a great deal to me.”

Conrad’s family history with Bethel is extensive. Nearly all of his immediate family, including his own mother, father and children, and more than 80 extended family members, either attended or graduated from the institution.

“Our lives were completely tied to Bethel,” said Conrad, whose dad went on to become the registrar and a 35-year professor at the school. “I literally grew up on the campus.”

He said the main thing that Bethel provided him “was a positive environment for development, a broader exposure to areas of study that comes with a liberal arts degree, and a wife who loves
the Lord.”

Conrad, his wife Kathie ’92 (right center), sons Alex ’07 (third from left) and Andrew ’06, ’15 (fourth from left), daughter-in-law Anna (Salazar) ’08 (in front of Andrew), and daughter Laura ’16 (right) are all Bethel graduates.

Conrad’s vast career in the health care industry led to him serving on many boards in the Michiana community, mostly related to health care or community needs. Now that he is retired, he is significantly scaling back his involvement with these boards.

And with retirement, Conrad is looking forward to spending his first “summer off” in nearly 38 years with his wife, Kathie ’82, who is a teacher.

But, as he points out, “there’s no such thing as a ‘retired’ Christian.”

“So I will just do my best to discern His leading and obey when I see doors opening up.”