MedStar Earns Platinum Award
MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital recently earned the Platinum Award, the highest level of achievement of the Maryland Performance Excellence Award (MPEA), the Maryland state equivalent of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. On a national level, the prestigious Baldrige award is presented to organizations that demonstrate highest quality in all aspects of their business.
“Earning the Platinum Award this year validates the continued efforts to improve quality and performance and become a high reliability organization. I am proud of all our medical staff and others on the team who dedicate themselves daily to this pursuit and to the community we serve,” said MedStar St. Mary’s Hospital President and Senior Vice President, MedStar Health Christine Wray.
The Platinum Award is a step up from the hospital’s Gold Award, received last year, and signifies the hospital’s continued progress on the pathway towards excellence.
As part of the extensive review process for the award, the MPEA Committee recently conducted an on-site visit meeting with administrators, Board members, department leaders, physicians and associates from throughout the hospital to assess MedStar St. Mary’s qualities and capabilities. The process also permits hospital staff to further themselves and better their processes.
Hospital leaders recently received the award at a banquet in Linthicum, Md., where Chief Operating Officer and Chief Medical Officer, Stephen T. Michaels, MD, gave a presentation on what it takes to stay on the Baldrige journey striving to be a high reliability organization, and Joan Gelrud, vice president, participated in a panel discussion with three other hospital leaders of MPEA applicants.
