Dr. Alan J. Bridges was born and raised in Annawan. The son of a long-time science teacher, Jay Bridges and Dolores Ufheil, he graduated from Annawan High School in 1975, before going on to graduate Augustana College in 1979 and the University of Illinois College of Medicine Peoria (UICOMP) in 1983. He married Peggy Kelley from Kewanee.
Bridges was recently honored with the Outstanding Achievement Award at the Augustana Alumni Awards ceremony held last fall. The award recognizes the recipient’s achievement in their vocation and is presented by the Alumni Association.
Bridges was nominated for the recognition by his former biology teacher Dr. Robert Tallisch. His nomination form notes his background as the chief of staff at the Madison VA Hospital for 20 years where he led the hospital to national prominence in patient safety and quality.
Bridges was Medical Incident Commander for the Great Lakes region during the Covid pandemic from 2019-2022 and wrote the Moving Forward policy to reopen VA hospitals after the initial phase of the pandemic. In addition, he was a member of the national VHA Healthcare Delivery Committee for more than 10 years, as well as a member of the national VHA Strategic Directions Committee for five years.
In 2020, Bridges received the John Chase Award for sustained excellence as a Veterans Affairs Health Care Executive. A year later, he was awarded Distinguished Professor status at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, where he serves as vice-chair of the Department of Medicine and Medical Director of Immunology Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics.
Twice he has been selected as Teacher of the Year and received the University of Wisconsin’s Professionalism Award. In 2021, Bridges was given the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Illinois College of Medicine.
The UICOMP website highlights Bridge’s achievements that include 65 articles in peer-reviewed journals in the area of rheumatoid arthritis, connective tissue disease, autoantibody testing and quality improvement. Work on committees, such as the national Health Care Delivery Committee from 2012-2013 “promoted changes at VA hospitals across the country.”
