A group of 21 people, dressed in professional attire, poses outdoors on a sunny day. They are standing on a stone walkway with lush greenery and trees in the background. The group includes a mix of men and women, most of whom are wearing shades of blue, black, and white, with a few in other colors. Everyone is smiling, and they appear to be enjoying the moment together in a casual and friendly atmosphere.

Celebrating Healthcare Excellence: Michigan’s Governor’s Award of Excellence Ceremony Honors Quality Improvement Leaders

Posted on

On September 12, 2024, iMPROve Health and the Michigan Health and Hospital Association (MHA) Keystone Center held the Governor’s Award of Excellence Awards Ceremony. During the ceremony, attendees heard from Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, Chief Medical Executive for the State of Michigan, Leland Babitch, Chief Executive Officer of iMPROve Health, and Sarah Scranton, Vice President, Safety & Quality MHA and Executive Director of MHA Keystone Center. Dr. Reneé Branch Canady, Chief Executive Officer of the Michigan Public Health Institute, provided our keynote focused on health equity and ensuring “room at the table.”

We also had the opportunity to hear from some of our top performers. These organizations provided “Case Studies in Excellence” with insights into how they made great strides in quality improvement throughout the Governor’s Award of Excellence program. They included:

  • Grandvue Charlevoix County Medical Care Facility’s improvements in CMS QSEP COVID-19 training and up-to-date COVID-19 vaccinations;
  • Henry Ford Health Macomb-Richmond and Chesterfield Family Medicine’s improvements in chronic kidney disease management;
  • Integrated Health Partners’ improvements in opioid stewardship, and
  • MyMichigan Medical Center Gladwin’s improvement in all-cause, 30-day readmission rates.
A speaker stands on stage next to a podium labeled "Governor's Excellence Welcome to the Awards Ceremony 2024," addressing an audience seated at round tables. A large projector screen displays the phrase "We hold these truths to be self-evident..." in pink text. The room is well-lit with natural light from nearby windows, and the audience appears engaged, listening to the presentation.

Following a video from Governor Gretchen Whitmer, 96 facilities, including community coalitions, critical access hospitals, home health agencies, hospitals, nursing homes, and physician practices, were presented with 124 awards for the incredible work they did improving quality on a variety of measures across the healthcare continuum since June 2022. As Tesia Looper, iMPROve Health’s managing director of quality improvement, noted at the event, the GAE initiatives achieved an average 74.9% Relative Improvement Rate from baseline across the multiple measures.

You can find a list of winners and their award categories in our event program on our website.

A group of 21 people, dressed in professional attire, poses outdoors on a sunny day. They are standing on a stone walkway with lush greenery and trees in the background. The group includes a mix of men and women, most of whom are wearing shades of blue, black, and white, with a few in other colors. Everyone is smiling, and they appear to be enjoying the moment together in a casual and friendly atmosphere.

The iMPROve Health team is incredibly proud of the work the Governor’s Award of Excellence winners put into making improvements. Of note are the organizations that focused on health equity and person and family engagement and won a Medal of Achievement in those areas, along with their Governor’s Award of Excellence.

Thank you to the teams from iMPROve Health, MHA Keystone Center, the Wisconsin Hospital Association, and Superior Health Quality Alliance for making the Governor’s Award of Excellence program and awards ceremony a reality and success. Celebrating the facilities in Michigan for their dedication to quality improvement is a great pleasure for all our team members.