Source NIST – Washington, DC – The U.S. Department of Commerce announced that six organizations will be presented with the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award at a ceremony on March 24, 2020, during the Baldrige Program’s 32nd annual Quest for Excellence® conference in National Harbor, Maryland.
Baldrige is the nation’s only presidential award for performance excellence, recognizing U.S. organizations and businesses that have shown an unceasing drive for innovative solutions to complex challenges, visionary leadership and operational excellence. “With an emphasis on efficiency and best practices, the Baldrige public-private partnership generates $1 billion per year in economic impact for the U.S. economy,” said Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. “The Baldrige Award embodies the competitive spirit and commitment to excellence that fuels our economic resurgence and drives our country forward.”
The 2019 NMBQA winners:
- Adventist Health White Memorial, Los Angeles, California (health care)
- Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (nonprofit)
- City of Germantown, Germantown, Tennessee (nonprofit)
- Howard Community College, Columbia, Maryland (education)
- Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, Oak Brook, Illinois (nonprofit)
- Mary Greeley Medical Center, Ames, Iowa (health care)
Some of the Highlighted Results of the winner organizations.
Adventist Health White Memorial (AHWM): Over nearly two decades, AHWM has worked closely with its partners in the Hispanic-majority community to train more than 224 local residents in nursing. Of these, 100% received registered nurse licensing, 70% pursued advanced degrees and 90% stayed at AHWM after three years. The result is a nursing staff that reflects the demographics of AHWM’s community, providing culturally competent care in the primary language of its patients.
Center for Organ Recovery & Education (CORE): As the result of managing the costs, efficiency and effectiveness of its operations, including two on-site operating rooms and research laboratories, CORE achieved cost savings of over $300,000 in 2014, over $600,000 in 2018 and over $2.6 million to date.
City of Germantown: Germantown earned a net promoter score of 71 in customer engagement in 2018 and has consistently exceeded the industry benchmark of 50, which is considered excellent; over 70 is considered world-class.
Howard Community College (HCC): HCC’s growth rate for the attainment of associate degrees and certificates has consistently outperformed its local and national comparators by more than 200%. Compared against the baseline year of fall 2002, HCC’s full-time-equivalent student growth rate increased from under 40% in 2003 to 340% in 2018, whereas state, national and best peer rates are close to just 100%.
Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF): With a funding level of 90%, IMRF provides retirement, disability and death benefits to more than 429,000 members, in support of 3,010 units of government in Illinois. IMRF provides these benefits — and industry-leading customer service levels — while keeping costs stable for taxpayers. IMRF is the first public pension fund in the nation to receive a Baldrige Award.
Mary Greeley Medical Center (MGMC): To serve patients, the entire workforce rallies around the tag line “Doing What’s Right.” For example, MGMC provides patient-centered scheduling, the result of an employee suggestion: Patients are scheduled for needed procedures on an aligned, coordinated schedule, in which all necessary procedures and tests are done in sequence. This improvement has eliminated a significant amount of delay in patient care and was recognized with an award for patient-centered innovation by the Iowa Healthcare Collaborative.
Best-Practice Awards: The Baldrige judges also may recognize best practices in one or more of the Baldrige Criteria categories by organizations that are candidates for the award This year, judges recognized GBMC HealthCare System in Towson, Maryland, for its role-model practices in leadership.
The Baldrige Program raises awareness about the importance of performance excellence in driving the U.S. and global economies; provides organizational assessments, training, tools and criteria; educates leaders in businesses, schools, health care organizations and government and nonprofit organizations; shares the best practices of national role models; and recognizes those role models with the Baldrige Award. The Baldrige Program is a public-private partnership managed by NIST and funded in part through user fees and support from the Baldrige Foundation.