1919 – 2006
William Henry Andrews, well-known retired hospital administrator, distinguished community leader and sports enthusiast, died on Thursday March 2 at Judson Retirement Community following a long illness.
Andrews served as director of Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital. (1969-76). Following reorganization, he was appointed senior vice-president of the Cuyahoga County Hospital System, the largest system of its type in Ohio. He was the first black hospital administrator in that state. Following a brief retirement he was named the East Side administrator of Kaiser Permanente, which included East Boulevard and Fairhill Road Hospitals, Cleveland Heights-Severance, Maple Heights-Southgate and Willoughby-Lake West medical offices until 1986.
Andrews, born in Wellston, MO, grew up in St. Louis, graduated from Lincoln University and studied personnel management at Loyola University. He received a master’s degree in Hospital Administration from Washington University. He began his career at Homer G. Phillips Hospital in St. Louis, subsequently as administrator, Peoples Hospital, St. Louis and George Hubbard Hospital of Meharry Medical College in Nashville. He went to Cleveland in 1959 to assume the post of Administrator of Forest City Hospital.
He was a Life Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and the National Association of Health Service Executives, where he served as second vice president. He was also active on the National Advisory Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases Council, was a lecturer at the Ohio State University Graduate Program in Health Services Administration and at the Case Western Reserve University Schools of Medicine and Dentistry. He is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in the Midwest, and The Ebony Success Library.
He was President of the Cleveland-West Rotary Club. He was a life member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity and a member of the Gaylords. He was an avid tennis player, having played with Althea Gibson. His colleagues nicknamed him the “The Natural Born Athlete.”
Andrews is survived by Mildred Joyce, his wife of 64 years, William H. III, son, Brenda Joyce, daughter, and a host of relatives and friends.