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Premier healthcare alliance receives prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
Alliance’s Commitment to Patient Care, Quality, Savings Honored at D.C.
Ceremony; Vice President Cheney, Commerce Secretary Gutierrez
are Award
Presenters
 Vice President Dick Cheney congratulates Premier President and CEO Richard Norling. |
 Premier President and CEO Richard Norling delivers acceptance speech at Baldrige Award ceremony. |
 Vice President Dick Cheney and Premier President and CEO Richard Norling celebrate Premier's achievement. |
Washington, D.C. (March 13, 2007) – The Premier healthcare alliance today received the nation’s top business excellence award from Vice President Dick Cheney for major contributions to improving nationwide patient outcomes while safely reducing the cost of care.
Vice President Cheney and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez presented the 2006 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award – the nation’s highest Presidential honor for quality and organizational performance excellence – to Richard A. Norling, Premier president and CEO. Also on stage to receive the award was Kelli Price, Premier vice president for organizational engagement and performance excellence.
“The 200 hospitals and health systems that own the Premier alliance stepped forward 10 years ago with a remarkable vision for making a difference in healthcare quality, safety and cost of care,” Norling said. “Thanks to their foresight and dedication, today we’re harnessing the collective knowledge and passion of more than 1,700 hospitals to positively impact the efficiency and effectiveness of America’s healthcare system.”
First granted in 1987, The Baldrige Award annually is presented by the Commerce Department to recognize American organizations for their achievements in quality and business performance and to raise awareness about the importance of quality and performance as a competitive edge. The Commerce Department selects a maximum of three organizations to honor each year from among the following fields: education, healthcare, manufacturing, service and small business.
Premier Inc. was selected for the Baldrige honor, along with MESA Products, Inc. of Tulsa, Okla. and North Mississippi Medical Center of Tupelo, Miss., from among a total of 76 organizations that applied for the award in 2006. In addition, Premier was one of only 15 organizations nationally to receive facility visits with Premier staff by Baldrige Award examiners last year.
“Today marks a wonderful milestone on our journey,” Norling said in his acceptance speech. “But our ultimate goal is to transform American healthcare - to make it the safest, most efficient and effective healthcare system in the world. It is that goal that pulls us forward - and that this award truly celebrates.”
About Premier Inc., 2006 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient
Serving more than 2,000 U.S. hospitals and 53,000-plus other healthcare sites, the
Premier healthcare alliance and its members are transforming healthcare
together. Owned by not-for-profit hospitals, Premier operates one of the leading
healthcare purchasing networks and the nation's most comprehensive repository of
hospital clinical and financial information. A subsidiary operates one of the
nation's largest policy-holder owned, hospital professional liability
risk-retention groups. A world leader in helping healthcare providers deliver
dramatic improvements in care, Premier is working with the United Kingdom's
National Health Service North West and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services to improve hospital performance. Headquartered in San Diego, Premier
has offices in Charlotte, N.C., Philadelphia and Washington. For more
information, visit www.premierinc.com.