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Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge, a member organization of Covenant Health, is the first hospital to receive the Governor's Quality Award, the highest state award for quality that a Tennessee hospital can receive. The award was presented at a dinner Monday night in Nashville for the 1997 Tennessee Quality Award winners.
Two other Covenant Health organizations also received Tennessee Quality Awards. Fort Sanders Sevier Medical Center in Sevierville received a Tennessee Quality Achievement Award, which is the second highest award level. Covenant Health's Human Resources division received the Quality Commitment Award, the third highest level of the award.
"I'm proud and thrilled that Methodist Medical Center received the Governor's award and that Covenant Health organizations have been recognized for high standards of quality and process improvement," said Alan Guy, Covenant Health president and chief executive officer. "We strive for quality not because we want to win awards, but because it's the right thing to do for our patients and our communities. But having our efforts acknowledged by the highest authority in the state is icing on the cake. I'm very grateful for the work that employees have done at Methodist and Sevier and in our Human Resources division to bring us to this level of recognition."
The Tennessee Quality Award program began in 1993 to encourage business, industry and other organizations to achieve "world class standards of excellence through quality management practices," according to program officials. A total of 114 organizations applied for awards in 1997.
"We are extremely pleased to receive the prestigious Governor's Award," said George Mathews, president and chief administrative officer of Methodist Medical Center. "It reflects the extensive, ongoing quality improvement efforts we began in 1989." Methodist received Tennessee Quality Achievement Awards in 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996.
In addition to the Tennessee Quality Award recipients, another Covenant Health organization was recently recognized for excellence. Carthage General Hospital/Trousdale Medical Center, which comprise Frank T. Rutherford Memorial Hospitals in middle Tennessee, were named among the top 100 hospitals in the United States by HCIA-Mercer. The hospitals won the award for the second consecutive year. Carthage/Trousdale joined Covenant Health on Jan. 1.