Premier Inc. (NASDAQ: PINC), a leading healthcare improvement company, recognized more than 160 hospitals, health systems and suppliers this week for their outstanding work to improve healthcare quality and costs.

“Health system and supplier recipients of Premier’s 2017 Breakthroughs Awards are industry leaders that continue to transform healthcare,” said Susan DeVore, president and CEO of Premier. “We are thrilled to recognize them for their innovative efforts to improve quality and efficiency, as well as the health of communities throughout the nation.”

Winners were announced during an awards ceremony held at Premier’s annual Breakthroughs Conference and Exhibition. Each summer, thousands of health system, academic institution and supplier representatives attend the conference to learn practical, replicable strategies to improve healthcare delivery.

More information about the 2017 Premier Breakthroughs Awards can be found here and the full list of recipients can be found here.

American Excess Insurance Exchange (AEIX) Risk Management Award

Premier Insurance Management Services, Inc. presented AEIX Risk Management Awards and/or Grants to the following hospitals and health systems for creating practices to promote patient safety and enhance the quality of care.

  • Baptist Health Paducah, Kentucky
  • Fairview Health Services, Minnesota
  • Riverside Health System, Virginia
  • Summa Health System - Akron Campus, Ohio (Summa Health)
  • Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Alliance, Texas (Texas Health Resources)

Cares Award

Sponsored by Premier and its member hospitals, the Cares Award recognizes exemplary efforts by not-for-profit community organizations to improve the health of populations in need.

Award winner:

  • Roseland Community Initiative, Asthma Van, Chicago

Finalists:

  • Teen Parent Empowerment Program, Healthy Babies Project, Washington, DC
  • Northern Idaho Crisis Center, Kootenai Health, Coeur D’Alene, Idaho

Continuum of Care Award

The following suppliers received the Continuum of Care Award, which recognizes these organizations as top performers for growth and support of Premier’s non-acute care members, including senior living facilities, physician practices, ambulatory care centers, surgery centers, home health organizations, imaging centers and labs.

  • Kimberly-Clark Professional
  • Midmark Sales Corporation
  • National Office Furniture
  • Office Depot, Inc.
  • Supply America Inc.

Culinary Cup Award

Premier presented the Culinary Cup Award to Matt Cervay, executive chef of Geisinger Corporate Foodservice Team, to recognize his culinary talent. Cervay won the award for creating the best on-trend bowl recipe, as judged by Premier members.

The three finalists for the award were:

  • Genie Gunn, food and nutrition manager, Verner Center for Learning of U.S. Communities Purchasing Alliance, North Carolina
  • Jacques Wilson, executive chef, El Camino Hospital, California
  • Maureen Booker, chef/assistant manager, Adrian Dominican Sisters of Dignity Health, Nevada

In addition, six other culinary experts were among the top ten and are listed on the Breakthroughs Award winner website.

Diversity Award

The following organizations received the Diversity Award for important contributions in developing and nurturing diversity programs in their organizations and communities.

  • Doctors Community Hospital, Maryland
  • Cardinal Health

In addition, two organizations received an honorable mention for the Diversity Award and are listed on the Breakthroughs Award winner website.

Illuminating Excellence Award

Premier presented the Illuminating Excellence Award to the following individuals for being outstanding foodservice professionals. Winners were selected based on improvements in operations, participation in Premier activities, professional/community activities and personal achievements.

  • Hal Brown, University of Colorado, Colorado
  • Jonathan Williams, Lakeview Village, Kansas
  • Joshua Fels, Banner University Medical Center, Arizona
  • Sandra Allen, Banner University Medical Center, Arizona
  • Ron Hall, Service of Systems Associates, Colorado

Finalists for the award are listed on the Breakthroughs Award winner website.

Partnership for Patients/Premier Hospital Engagement Network

The following organizations received the Partnership for Patients/Premier Hospital Engagement Network 2.0 Award for reducing preventable hospital-acquired conditions and readmissions, as part of their participation during the federal Partnership for Patients Hospital Engagement Network 2.0 initiative.

  • AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, Mainland Campus, New Jersey (Geisinger Health System)
  • Avera Sacred Heart Hospital, South Dakota (Avera Health)
  • Banner Thunderbird Medical Center, Arizona (Banner Health)
  • Candler Hospital, Georgia (St. Joseph's/Candler Health System)
  • Carle Foundation Hospital, Illinois (The Carle Foundation)
  • CHI St. Luke’s Health–Sugar Land Hospital, Texas
  • CHI St. Luke's Health–Patients Medical Center, Texas
  • Inova Alexandria Hospital, Virginia (Inova Health System)
  • Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Maryland (Johns Hopkins Medicine)
  • Mary Black Health System - Gaffney, South Carolina (Community Health Systems, Inc.)
  • Pali Momi Medical Center, Hawaii (Hawaii Pacific Health)
  • Princeton Community Hospital, West Virginia
  • Self Regional Healthcare, South Carolina
  • Shenandoah Memorial Hospital, Virginia (Valley Health System)
  • Sibley Memorial Hospital, Washington D.C. (Johns Hopkins Medicine)
  • SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital - St. Louis, Missouri
  • St. Joseph's Hospital, Georgia (St. Joseph's/Candler Health System)
  • Tidelands Georgetown Memorial Hospital, South Carolina (Tidelands Health)
  • UnityPoint Health - Allen Hospital, Iowa
  • University Hospitals Elyria Medical Center, Ohio
  • White Memorial Medical Center, California (Adventist Health)
  • WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center, West Virginia

Premier Alliance Excellence Award

Baystate Health of Massachusetts received the 2017 Premier Alliance Excellence Award. The award is given annually to healthcare organizations that exemplify the highest level of industry innovation and advancements in delivering high-quality, cost-effective care.

QUEST® Award for High-value Healthcare

The following hospitals were recognized with the QUEST® Award for High-value Healthcare for achieving top performance in all six of the areas measured in Premier’s QUEST collaborative: cost and efficiency, inpatient and outpatient evidence-based care, mortality, safety, patient experience and appropriate hospital use.

  • Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel, Florida (Adventist Health System)
  • Memorial Hospital Miramar, Florida (Memorial Healthcare System)
  • North Mississippi Medical Center-Iuka, Mississippi (North Mississippi Health System)
  • Park Ridge Health, North Carolina (Adventist Health System)
  • Riverside Doctors' Hospital Williamsburg, Virginia (Riverside Health System)
  • SSM Health St. Clare Hospital - Baraboo, Wisconsin

Premier also recognized 21 organizations as Finalists and 63 organizations received a Citation of Merit for the award. Finalists and Citation of Merit recipients are available on the Breakthroughs Award winner website.

Supply Chain Innovation Award

Geisinger Health System of Pennsylvania received the Supply Chain Innovation Award for introducing innovative, high-impact supply chain improvement ideas to the healthcare industry.

Supply Chain Excellence Award

The following hospitals and health systems received the Supply Chain Excellence Award for superior supply expense performance.

  • Agnesian HealthCare, Wisconsin
  • Carolinas HealthCare System NorthEast, North Carolina
  • Florida Hospital Apopka, Florida (Adventist Health System)
  • Genesis Medical Center, Aledo, Illinois (Genesis Health System)
  • Heritage Valley Health System, Pennsylvania
  • Jefferson Regional Medical Center, Arkansas
  • Murray Medical Center, Georgia (Adventist Health System)
  • Norton Community Hospital, Virginia (Mountain States Health Alliance)
  • PeaceHealth Cottage Grove Community Medical Center, Oregon (PeaceHealth)
  • Presence Health, Illinois
  • Presence Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center, Illinois (Presence Health)
  • St. Francis Medical Center, California (Verity Health System)
  • Verity Health System, California
  • West Penn Hospital, Pennsylvania (Allegheny Health Network)

Supplier Legacy Award

The following suppliers that have been contracted with Premier for more than three years received the Legacy Award for their longstanding work to support Premier members through exceptional local customer service and engagement, value creation through clinical excellence and commitment to lower costs.

  • BioCARE
  • CDW Healthcare
  • Fresenius Kabi USA
  • FujiFilm SonoSite, Inc.
  • Helmer Incorporated
  • MDM Commercial Enterprises, Inc.
  • Medela LLC
  • Merck & Co., Inc.
  • Owens & Minor, Inc.
  • Philips Healthcare
  • Stryker Corporation
  • Stryker Sustainability Solutions
  • Tyson Foods
  • USPAY Group, LLC

Supplier Horizon Award

The following suppliers that have been contracted with premier for less than three years received the Horizon Award for exceptional local customer service and engagement, value creation through clinical excellence and commitment to lower costs.

  • Amring Pharmaceuticals Inc.
  • Crawford Healthcare
  • KLS Martin LP
  • Leica Biosystems
  • LOGIQUIP
  • MASS Medical Storage
  • Medefis, Inc.
  • Penumbra, Inc.
  • Perdue Foods, LLC
  • Shire
  • Sprint Corporation

About Premier Inc.

Premier Inc. (NASDAQ: PINC) is a leading healthcare improvement company, uniting an alliance of approximately 3,750 U.S. hospitals and more than 130,000 other provider organizations. With integrated data and analytics, collaboratives, supply chain solutions, and advisory and other services, Premier enables better care and outcomes at a lower cost. Premier, a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient, plays a critical role in the rapidly evolving healthcare industry, collaborating with members to co-develop long-term innovations that reinvent and improve the way care is delivered to patients nationwide. Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Premier is passionate about transforming American healthcare. Please visit Premier’s news and investor sites on www.premierinc.com for more information about the company.