BALTIMORE -- President Donald Trump and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross presented President and CEO of Adventist Health Castle, Kathy Raethal, and Quality Improvement Coordinator, Steve Bovey, with the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award during the annual Quest for Excellence Conference in Baltimore, Md., in April. Adventist Health Castle is the first Hawaiian healthcare organization, and the first from Adventist Health—the faith-based, nonprofit integrated health system serving more than 75 communities in the western U.S. states of California, Hawaii, and Oregon—to receive the nation's highest Presidential honor for performance excellence.
"This recognition is the culmination of years of hard work, dedication and a constant pursuit of excellence from each and every physician, employee and volunteer at Adventist Health Castle," said Raethal. "Each member of our team played a role in this accomplishment and I am so proud of what we've achieved. Our journey will continue with an unwavering commitment to providing exceptional care and service to everyone who walks through our doors."
The Baldrige Award program raises awareness of the importance of performance excellence in driving the U.S. and global economies and provides organizational assessments, training, tools and criteria to educate leaders in businesses, schools, healthcare organizations, government and nonprofit organizations by sharing the best practices of the national role models it recognizes with its awards. The program was established by Congress in 1987 and since the first group was recognized in 1988, 118 awards have been presented to 110 organizations. Since the healthcare category was introduced in 1999, only 21 healthcare organizations nationwide have been awarded the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. The program is a public-private partnership managed by NIST and funded in part through user fees, with some support from the Baldrige Foundation.
“We are humbled to accept this esteemed award on behalf of Adventist Health Castle,” said Adventist Health Chief Executive Officer, Scott Reiner. “This award validates what we have already come to love and expect from Adventist Health Castle—and serves as a national model for healthcare best practice.”
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross.
Please note Undersecretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director, Walter G. Copan, was the award presenter, not Donald Trump himself. Copan was nominated by President Donald Trump to become Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology. He was confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate in October 2017.
For more information, visit www.adventisthealth.org and econtimes.com.
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