CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Premier Inc. (NASDAQ: PINC), a leading healthcare improvement company, has recognized dozens of hospitals, health systems and suppliers for their outstanding work to improve healthcare quality and costs.

“Recipients of Premier’s 2019 Breakthroughs Awards are industry leaders that continue to transform healthcare,” said Susan DeVore, CEO of Premier. “We are honored to recognize them for their innovative efforts to improve quality and efficiency, as well as the health of communities across the nation.”

Winners were recognized 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 network and learn practical, replicable strategies to improve healthcare delivery. A list of awards and winners is below.

Alternate Site Supplier Award

Recognizes Premier contracted suppliers working to extend product and service lines, and lower supply chain costs for alternate site providers and businesses. Suppliers are evaluated on the value of contracted offerings, level of service, ease of contract attachment and activation and overall support for Premier’s alternate site programs. The winners of the award are:

• Healthcare Purchasing Connection
• ViaCentric

Alternate Site Sponsor Award

Recognizes Premier sponsors of affiliates that use all available resources to lower supply chain costs for alternate site affiliates through extensive participation in Premier’s purchasing program. Sponsors are evaluated on commitment of resources, involvement in new initiatives, innovation and overall participation in Premier’s alternate site programs. The winners of the award are:

• Office Depot
• Performance Health

American Excess Insurance Exchange (AEIX) Risk Management Award

Recognizes AEIX members that created practices to improve patient safety and enhance the quality of care. Winners are selected based on their new practice’s effectiveness and potential applicability to other healthcare settings. This year’s award winners are:

• Eisenhower Health, Rancho Mirage, California
• PeaceHealth, Vancouver, Washington
• Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth, Arlington, Texas

Culinary Cup Award

Premier presented the Culinary Cup Award to Chef Robert Eddy of Columbus Community Hospital to recognize his culinary talent. Eddy won the award for creating the best classic entree with a twist recipe, as judged by Premier members. In addition, the following three culinary experts were finalists and another six were among the top ten:

• Jacques Wilson, El Camino Hospital, California (finalist)
• Janisa Freycinet, Northshore University, New York of Acurity (finalist)
• Lynson Espiritu, Stern Family Center of Rehabilitation, New York of Acurity (finalist)
• Amber Steele Duncan, Carilion Clinic, Virginia of Carilion Health System
• Daryl Cronk, Elderwood Administrative Services, New York of Pandion Optimization Alliance
• Genie Gunn, Verner Center for Early Learning, North Carolina of U.S. Communities
• Johnathan Williams, Lakeview Village, Kansas of Innovatix
• Kathleen Paxson, Grandview Medical Center, Ohio of Kettering Health Network
• Nicholas Skajewski, Avera McKennan Hospital and University Health Center, South Dakota of Avera Health

Diversity Award

Henry Ford Health System and Johnson & Johnson received the Diversity Award for their important contributions in developing and nurturing diversity programs in their organizations and communities. The MetroHealth System and Cardinal Health received an honorable mention.

Premier HIIN Award for Excellence in Patient Safety Across the Board

This award recognizes top performing hospitals that actively participate in the Premier Hospital Improvement Innovation Network (HIIN) and have demonstrated excellence in performance across the program’s 13 patient safety adverse event areas of focus. Winners of the award include:

• AdventHealth Hendersonville, North Carolina of AdventHealth
• Adventist Health Glendale, California of Adventist Health
• Adventist Health Hanford, California of Adventist Health
• Carle Foundation Hospital, Illinois, The Carle Foundation
• Catawba Valley Medical Center, North Carolina
• Central Texas Medical Center, Texas of AdventHealth
• CHI St. Joseph Health Regional Hospital, Texas of CHI Texas Division
• Clifton Springs Hospital & Clinic, New York of Rochester Regional Health
• Conway Medical Center, South Carolina
• Corona Regional Medical Center, California of UHS of Delaware, Inc.
• Howard County General Hospital, Maryland of Johns Hopkins Medicine
• Kuakini Medical Center, Hawaii of Kuakini Health System
• Medical Center Enterprise, Alabama of Community Health Systems
• New England Baptist Hospital, Massachusetts of Beth Israel Lahey Health
• Prisma Health Laurens County Hospital, South Carolina of Prisma Health - Upstate
• Saint Francis Hospital, Oklahoma of Saint Francis Health System
• Southview Medical Center, Ohio of Kettering Health Network
• Spartanburg Medical Center - Mary Black Campus, South Carolina of Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System
• St. Anthony's Hospital, Florida of BayCare Health System
• St. Luke's University Hospital - Bethlehem, Pennsylvania of St. Luke's University Health Network
• Sycamore Medical Center, Ohio of Kettering Health Network
• The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Maryland of Johns Hopkins Medicine

Illuminating Excellence Award

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

• Steve Achord, Director of Nutrition Services, Advent Health Shawnee Mission of Advent Health (Acute Care)
• Amy Julicher, Director of Nutritional Services, Elderwood Administrative Services of Pandion Optimization Alliance (Continuum of Care)
• Pam L’Heureux, Clinical Nutrition Senior Manager, Banner Baywood Medical Center of Banner Health (Nutrition)
• Shawn Hoch, Senior Director of Hospitality Services, NC State University of US Communities (Education)
• Jimmy Dilks, General Manager, Fremont Sports Complex/ Aqua Adventure of US Communities (Commercial)

Finalists for the award are:

• Claudia Neef, Director-Food and Nutrition Services, Opelousas General Medical Center of Lafayette General Medical Center
• David Perkins, Chief Manager, Connecticut College of Essensa
• Deb Longway, Food Service Director, Lewis County General of Acurity
• Dorothy Ricks, Director of Food and Nutrition, Huntington Living Center/ Nursing Home of Pandion Optimization Alliance
• Jeff Gilmore, Director of Culinary and Nutrition, Banner Baywood/Heart of Banner Health
• Joann Harmon, Director of Food and Nutrition Services, St. John's Riverside Hospital of Acurity
• Matt Fikaris, Director of Dining Services, Laurel Lake Retirement Community of CHAMPS
• Steve Meisel, Director of Dining Services, Grafton County Nursing Home of Innovatix
• Susan Kapun, Dining Experience Director, Inglis House of Innovatix
• Tracey MacRae, Campus Executive Chef, University of Washington Housing & Food Services of Value 4, LLC

QUEST^® Award for High-value Healthcare

This award recognizes hospitals that participate in the QUEST quality improvement collaborative for achieving top performance in all five dimensions of the program, as well as the top performers in six peer groups. Designed to recognize top performing hospitals’ success within relevant peer groups that address hospital size and academic status, the six peer group categories are Academic Hospitals, Critical Access Hospitals and each of the four cost segments: Council of Teaching Hospitals (COTH) ≥ 375 beds, COTH < 375 beds, Non-COTH ≥175 beds and Non-COTH < 175 beds. QUEST hospitals achieving top performance in any 4 of the 5 dimensions of the collaborative, as well as the second best performers in the six peer groups, were also recognized as award finalists.

Top Performance Threshold (TPT) QUEST Award Winners

• Baptist Memorial Hospital-Booneville, Booneville, Mississippi of Baptist Memorial HealthCare Corporation
• Baptist Memorial Hospital-Union City, Union City, Tennessee of Baptist Memorial Healthcare Corporation

Peer Group QUEST Award Winners

• Adventist Health Glendale, Glendale, California of Adventist Health (Top Performer- non-COTH => 175)
• CHI St. Luke’s Health-Memorial Lufkin, Lufkin, Texas of CHI Texas Division (Top Performer- non-COTH < 175)
• Geisinger Lewistown Hospital, Lewistown, Pennsylvania of Geisinger (Top Performer- COTH < 375)
• Good Samaritan Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio of TriHealth, Inc. (Top Performer- COTH => 375)
• PeaceHealth Peace Island Medical Center, Friday Harbor, Washington of PeaceHealth (Top Performer- Critical Access)
• St. Luke’s University Hospital - Bethlehem, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania of St. Luke’s University Health Network (Top Performer- Academic)

TPT QUEST Award Finalists

• Baptist Memorial Hospital-Union County, New Albany, Mississippi of Baptist Memorial HealthCare Corporation
• Bon Secours Richmond Community Hospital, Richmond, Virginia of Bon Secours Mercy Health
• CHI St. Joseph Health Grimes Hospital, Navasota, Texas of CHI Texas Division
• CHI St. Luke’s Health-Lakeside Hospital, The Woodlands, Texas of CHI Texas Division
• CHI St. Luke’s Health-Memorial Livingston, Livingston, Texas of CHI Texas Division
• CHI St. Luke’s Health-Memorial San Augustine, San Augustine, Texas of CHI Texas Division
• Geisinger Bloomsburg Hospital, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania of Geisinger
• North Mississippi Medical Center-Iuka, Iuka, Mississippi of North Mississippi Health Services
• Page Memorial Hospital, Luray, Virginia of Valley Health System
• Peace Health Cottage Grove Community Medical Center, Cottage Grove, Oregon of PeaceHealth
• PeaceHealth Peace Island Medical Center, Friday Harbor, Washington of PeaceHealth
• St. Joseph Memorial Hospital, Murphysboro, Illinois of Southern Illinois Healthcare
• St. Joseph’s Hospital-South, Riverview, Florida of BayCare Health System
• St. Luke’s Monroe Campus, Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania of St. Luke’s University Health Network
• War Memorial Hospital, Berkeley Springs, West Virginia of Valley Health System

Peer Group QUEST Award Finalists

• CHI St. Luke’s Health-Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, Houston, Texas of CHI Texas Division (2nd Top Performer- Academic)
• Kuakini Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii of Kuakini Health System (2nd Top Performer- non-COTH < 175)
• Morton Plant Hospital, Clearwater, Florida of BayCare Health System (2nd Top Performer- COTH => 375)
• PeaceHealth Cottage Grove Community Medical Center, Cottage Grove, Oregon of PeaceHealth (2nd Top Performer- Critical Access)
• SSM Health St. Anthony Hospital - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma of SSM Health (2nd Top Performer- non-COTH => 175)
• St. Luke’s Allentown Campus, Allentown, Pennsylvania of St. Luke’s University Health Network (2nd Top Performer- COTH < 375)

Supplier Legacy Award

The following suppliers 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.

• ACell Inc.
• Advance Medical Designs, Inc.
• Baxter Healthcare Corporation
• CSL Behring
• Hillrom
• Kimberly-Clark Professional
• Merck & Co., Inc.
• PNC Bank, N.A.
• Quest Diagnostics
• Ruiz Food Products, Inc.
• Siemens Healthineers
• STERIS Corporation
• Xerox Corporation

Supplier Horizon Award

The following suppliers received the Horizon Award for exceptional local customer service and engagement, value creation through clinical excellence and commitment to lower costs.

• CenTrak Inc.
• Grifols Diagnostic Solutions
• Key Surgical
• National Business Furniture
• Neurologica, A Division of Samsung Electronics
• Osiris Therapeutics, Inc.
• Salter Labs
• SpendMend
• Strauss Brands Inc.
• The ScottCare Corporation

Supply Chain Excellence Award

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

• Adventist Health, California
• Atrium Health Kings Mountain, North Carolina of Atrium Health
• Cape Fear Valley Health System, North Carolina
• Carolinas Healthcare System Stanly, North Carolina of Atrium Health
• Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital, Michigan of Henry Ford Health System
• Heritage Valley Health System, Pennsylvania of Consolidation Supply Chain Services
• Mercy Health - St. Charles Hospital, Ohio of Bon Secours Mercy Health
• Mount St. Mary's Hospital, New York of Catholic Health
• PeaceHealth Cottage Grove Community Medical Center, Oregon of PeaceHealth
• Riverside Health System, Virginia
• Socorro General Hospital, New Mexico of Presbyterian Healthcare Services
• SSM Health St. Mary's Hospital - St. Louis, Missouri of SSM Health
• University Hospitals Bedford Medical Center, a campus of UH Regional Hospitals, Ohio of University Hospitals

About Premier Inc.

Premier Inc. (NASDAQ: PINC) is a leading healthcare improvement company, uniting an alliance of more than 4,000 U.S. hospitals and health systems and approximately 165,000 other providers and organizations to transform healthcare. With integrated data and analytics, collaboratives, supply chain solutions, and consulting and other services, Premier enables better care and outcomes at a lower cost. Premier 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; as well as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Premier’s blog for more information about the company.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190620005599/en/

Morgan Guthrie, Premier Inc.; Morgan_Guthrie@PremierInc.com; 212.901.1356

Source: Premier Inc.