Dr. Paul Pedersen is currently the Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at OSF St. Joseph Medical Center, Bloomington Illinois. OSF St. Joseph Medical Center is a 149 bed, not for profit, acute care, and Level II Trauma Center facility. Dr. Pedersen's focus is on the quality and safety of the care patients receive. His leadership provides a critical link between the hospital and some 350 medical professionals. Dr. Pedersen studied biology at Illinois Wesleyan University, earned his MD at the University of Illinois Medical School and then specialized in internal medicine. He was in private practice for several years and then joined the OSF family in 1995 as an Internist. The mission of providing "the greatest care and love" to everyone is what inspired Dr. Pedersen to also become active in community health care. The clinic he established now has nearly 7,000 patient visits annually and on a bare-bones budget of $500,000, has provided some $10 million worth of medications and medical care. Dr. Pedersen is also actively involved in many community organizations and has three grown children.

• U of I med school - Doctor of Medicine (MD), Internal Medicine