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“SSM HEALTH CARE IS FIRST HEALTH CARE FIRM IN NATION TO WIN MALCOLM BALDRIGE NATIONAL QUALITY AWARD” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Commerce was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1123-E1124 on June 4, 2003.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
SSM HEALTH CARE IS FIRST HEALTH CARE FIRM IN NATION TO WIN MALCOLM
BALDRIGE NATIONAL QUALITY AWARD
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HON. WM. LACY CLAY
of missouri
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, June 4, 2003
Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor SSM Health Care, the first health care organization in the country to be named a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award winner.
As a 2002 award recipient of the prestigious award, SSM was recently honored, along with two other recipients--Motorola, for manufacturing; and Branch-Smith Printing Division, for small business--during a ceremony in Alexandria, VA in May, 2003.
Named for the late Commerce Secretary in the Reagan Cabinet, the award is given by the U.S. Department of Commerce and as you know, is the top honor a U.S. company can receive for quality management and quality achievement in the categories of manufacturing, service, small business, education and health care.
Normally presented by the President of the United States, this year Vice President Dick Cheney did the honors.
In a message from President George W. Bush, the Chief Executive said:
``As we embrace new opportunities and face new challenges, these organizations are setting an example of quality and excellence that helps strengthen our Nation and points the way to a brighter, more prosperous future for all.''
In his remarks, Secretary of Commerce Donald L. Evans noted that SSM, which is sponsored by the St. Louis-based Franciscan Sisters of Mary, is a role model of world-class excellence and has achieved extraordinary results.
``The men and women of this organization represent the highest ethical standards in public responsibility and corporate stewardship,'' Evans said. ``I am particularly pleased to join the President in announcing a first-time winner for health care. The three 2002 Baldrige Award winners are role models of world-class excellence, and they have achieved extraordinary results.''
Dick Davidson, President of The Foundation for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, also joined in praise of SSM.
``The clearest path to success for any organization is the one that embraces quality principles and the continuous improvement that they can unlock,'' Davidson said. ``The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award highlights those organizations in business, health care and education that have followed this path and, in doing so, have set the standard for excellence in quality processes and results. The Foundation salutes the recipients of the 2002 Award and is pleased to continue its support of the Award.''
Sister Mary Jean Ryan, President and CEO of SSM, and Sister Jacqueline Motzel, SSM Chairperson, received the award.
Sister Ryan said: ``This Award is a wonderful recognition of the excellent performance of our employees and physicians and of their strong commitment to their mission--to reveal the healing presence of God through our exceptional health care services.''
In competing for the award, SSM staff submitted a 50-page application and last October were subjected to comprehensive site visits at the corporate office and its facilities in four states. The visits took place at all hours of the day, and were meant to clarify and verify information included in the application.
Baldrige examiners spoke with more than 800 employees and physicians, systemwide, and measured performance in seven areas: leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, information and analysis, human resources focus, process management and business results.
An example of the SSM success model is its employees. Comprised of a workforce of 82 percent women employees, among the hospitals many achievements has been to reduce employee turnover from a rate of 21 percent in 1999 to 13 percent in 2002.
Mr. Speaker, I am especially proud of SSM Health Care for receiving this honor. A not-for-profit Catholic health care system, it provides primary, secondary and tertiary health care services by way of 21 acute care hospitals and three nursing homes in four states--Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin and Oklahoma--which it owns or manages.
Nearly 5000 affiliated physicians and 22,200 employees work together to provide a wide range of services, including: inpatient, outpatient, emergency, ambulatory, physician practices, residential and skilled nursing.
The Foundation for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award was created to provide the private sector a means of accomplishing better employee relations, higher productivity, greater customer satisfaction, increased market share and improved operating performance.
As a recipient of this most prestigious award, SSM Health Care joins the company of other winners, including: Boeing Airlift and Tanker Programs, Merrill Lynch Credit Corp., Xerox Business Services, AT&T Consumer Communications Services, Eastman Chemical Co., the Ritz-
Carlton Hotel, Express Corp., Cadillac Motor Car Division, Motorola Inc., and Westinghouse Electric Corp.
In addition to winning a Baldrige Award, SSM Health Care is also the 2003 Missouri Industry of the Year, in the large company classification. That award, sponsored by the Associated Industries of Missouri and the Mid-Missouri Business Journal, annually recognizes the best and brightest Missouri businesses that are working to make Missouri a better place to live and work.
Also, SSM Health Care was a Missouri Quality Award recipient in 1999.
Through a series of 2003 Baldrige Sharing Dates--June 18, August 20, October 23 and December 18--the SSM staff is sharing its winning techniques with other executives from all industries to learn first-
hand from the top SSM leaders. I urge any organization on a quest for success to consider looking at the SSM Health Care model. It has proven its success, not only to its patients, its staff and St. Louis, but also to the nation.
In an April 9 column by Washington Post reporter David S. Broder noted SSM's success, something which ``Congress and the press were too busy with other things to notice.'' Calling SSM ``A Beacon for Better Health Care,'' Broder observed how SSM was proving that good medicine is also an economic asset and how Sister Ryan began as a nurse and rose into management.
In his remarks, Broder offered this quote: ``We are living proof that health care in the United States is capable of improving, despite many predictions to the contrary. We are proof that large and complex health care organizations can push themselves to step out of their comfort zones to exceptional results. And the more of us that commit to performance excellence, the greater will be our ability to deliver health care breathtakingly better than it's ever been done before. The nation deserves no less.''
``Those words,'' Broder said, ``and the performance behind them, deserve more attention than Washington gave them last week.''
Today, Mr. Speaker, let us add our voices to the celebration of a successful health care system. At a time when hospitals are closing in vast numbers and the high cost of malpractice insurance is causing many physicians to limit their practices, we have found a health care system that works. The choice is ours. We can heal the health care delivery problem in this nation or we can let it overwhelm and consume us, to the detriment of us all.
SSM is a model for success. Today, in Congress, let us register a much-deserved celebration of that fact.
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