The Achievement in Performance Excellence Award is one of the highest honors bestowed by the SPQA program, recognizing organizations that demonstrate exemplary leadership, a strong commitment to continuous improvement, and a focus on delivering outstanding results.
Congratulations to our 2025 award honoree, Eastern State Hospital (ESH). Their dedication to relentless advancement has set a benchmark in delivering superior service to customers, stakeholders, and employees alike. Embracing the improvement journey signifies a critical leadership commitment. By adopting and implementing the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence, ESH has established a structured approach to achievement. They serve as an exemplary beacon for any entity aspiring to enhance performance.
ESH, located in Williamsburg, Virginia, was founded in 1773 with a well- intentioned emphasis on community focused mental health care. The Hospital is situated on 500 acres and consists of 2 patient care buildings, and a staff of over 900 to care for the 300 patients. Eastern State Hospital is part of The Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services system and is accredited by the Joint Commission. They have a well deployed strategic planning process with workforce and leadership involvement. Patient safety is one of five strategic pillars and they use the National Research Institute inpatient customer survey to track service requirements. ESH tracks their patient outcome data and benchmarks performance against other hospitals.
Eastern State Hospital is recognized for the Achievement of Performance Excellence Award. Organizations recognized at this level have established sound, effective approaches responsive to the overall requirements of the Baldrige Framework criteria. They are generally aligned throughout the organization and demonstrate examples of evaluation, refinement, and learning. They also demonstrate good results and trends for many areas important to their business requirements, with no major faults.
