One bright spot during the COVID-19 pandemic is that, recently, ExcellenceNorth Alliance (ENA), in partnership with Partners in Performance Excellence (PiPEx), announced that Bristol Health in Bristol, Connecticut, earned a Silver Recognition in the 2020 ENA Baldrige-based Awards and Recognition Program.
Bristol Health is an integrated healthcare system offering services that include hospital and specialty health services, home and hospice care, skilled nursing, and emergency medical services. It was recognized for demonstrating a system-wide commitment to safety, reliability, transparency, and community service. This commitment is built on a culture of Communication, Accountability, Respect, and Empathy. Each is implemented through its Rock Excellence Journey by incorporating performance improvement methodologies and continuous assessment to identify improvements. Both its culture and Journey connect with its vision to advance the health of the community by providing integrated, innovative, and individualized patient care.
The recognition process evaluates an organization’s strengths and improvement opportunities against the Baldrige Framework for Performance Excellence, which represents the leading edge of validated leadership and performance practice. Earning the silver level of recognition involves the submission of an application for evaluation by a team of trained volunteers. The volunteer examiners conduct interviews with the applicant, after which they provide a confidential feedback report with strengths and opportunities to support continued improvement based on world-class best practices.
As ENA’s Executive Director, Anne Warner, said, “. . . The fact that this healthcare system opted to continue the evaluation during the COVID-19 pandemic further reflects a significant commitment to excellence in all aspects of its operations. We identified many examples that verify how its Rock Excellence Journey prepared Bristol Health to adapt and respond to the virus. Lessons learned during this time are being shared throughout the system to enhance daily operations and to prepare for the future.”
I’m a passionate believer in continuous quality improvement, so I place a high value on the Baldrige Framework for Performance Excellence. Its principles have helped my own business prosper, and through serving ENA as its Chairman of the Board, I can help other organizations in Northern New England thrive sustainably. I was thrilled in January to have been presented with a Leadership Excellence Award in the Health Care sector from the Baldrige Foundation.
To learn more about ExcellenceNorth Alliance and its mission to help Northern New England organizations and communities achieve their goals as the rate of change and disruption continues to dramatically increase across all business sectors, visit http://www.excellencenorth.org.
