Given in recognition of operational excellence, the award went to Baptist because of its inclusion on FORTUNE magazine’s annual list, “100 Best Companies To Work For,” which was released in January. The VHA Leadership Award is given to member organizations that have distinguished themselves in the pursuit of excellence.

Accepting the award on behalf of Baptist Health Care were the organization’s president, Al Stubblefield; its vice president for patient care services, Diane Wilbanks; and its director of materials management, Bob Gentry.

With 2,200 member organizations, VHA is an alliance of not-for-profit healthcare organizations working together to improve the health of the communities they serve. VHA delivers industry-leading supply chain management services and enables members to improve clinical and operational performance and drive sustainable results.

Baptist Health Care has been included on FORTUNE’s list of the most employee-friendly organizations for four consecutive years. With its 5,500 full- and part-time employees, Baptist Health Care includes four hospitals, a nursing home, two medical parks and the Lakeview Center network of mental health services. It is the largest non-governmental employer in northwest Florida. Employee satisfaction is a major tenet of Baptist’s service excellence philosophy: it takes happy employees to have happy patients.

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