Celebrating Excellence at Covenant Health

2019 President’s Excellence Awards Recognize Outstanding Individuals and Team Projects

Covenant Health’s annual President’s Excellence Awards celebrate the accomplishments of individual employees and collaborative teams around the health system for providing outstanding patient care and improving health system operations.

The employee celebration focuses on performance that demonstrates Covenant Health’s Pledge of Excellence: putting patients first, striving for excellence in everything we do, and ensuring that Covenant Health is the first and best choice in our communities.

“The pledge is the very core of who we are at Covenant Health,” said Jim VanderSteeg, President and CEO. “The President’s Excellence Awards recognize individuals and teams, but more importantly, they honor those who demonstrate the pledge in action.”

The 2019 President’s Excellence Awards included a leadership award, nine awards for individual employee achievement, nine team achievement awards and Covenant Health’s highest honor, the President’s Award.

Honoring Leaders Among Our Health System

 Scott Wing, Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge, received the 2019 Leadership Award. He was selected from among 15 finalists who were nominated as outstanding managers or directors at Covenant Health.

Nine employees from throughout the system received Individual Achievement awards in recognition of their commitment to the Pledge of Excellence and exemplary performance in their day-to-day responsibilities.

Individual Achievement Awards recognize non-managerial “peak performers” who exemplify Covenant Health’s Pledge of Excellence: putting patients first, excellence in everything we do, and making Covenant Health the first and best choice in our communities.

Individual Award Honorees:
Jamie Chambers,  Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center
Tennille Creekmore, Parkwest Medical Center
Julie Crum, Covenant HomeCare
Kelly Edwards, Cumberland Medical Center
Donna Johns, Morristown-Hamblen Healthcare System
Amy Lackey, Parkwest Medical Center
Tina Leinart, Methodist Medical Center
Nicole Mattison, Parkwest Medical Center
Elliot Whidby, Parkwest Medical Center

Team Achievement awards were selected by judges representing community healthcare, education and quality improvement organizations. Out of 37 applications, awards were given to nine collaborative projects including recognitions for community impact, innovation, improvement and sustainability.

Team projects that received awards ranged from clinical quality improvements and an innovative staff training program to implementation of tele-health technology and a collaborative project with Knox Area Rescue Ministries to provide medical care for homeless patients.

Team Receives Top Honor for Implementing Electronic Health Record System

The President’s Award, Covenant Health’s top award, was given to a system-wide project team for implementing Covenant Health’s new electronic health record.

More than 150 providers and countless hospital and clinic staff members participated in design sessions, content development, future-state review and testing in order to ensure a seamless integration across the system. After months of design, preparation and education, eight acute care hospitals and nearly 100 physician practices successfully went live with the system.

“This project touched essentially every operational area and nearly all employees at Covenant Health. The implementation team’s accomplishments are impressive in an ongoing initiative that is essential to providing the very best care for our patients,” VanderSteeg said as he presented the award.

“My congratulations to all the nominees and award recipients,” he said at the conclusion of the event. “Thank you for all you do each and every day to support our Pledge of Excellence and to make Covenant Health an outstanding health system and a true asset to the communities we serve.”