Previous Fire Starters
Clark Memorial Hospital
05/01/2008Jeffersonville, Indiana
Number of Beds: 241
Clark Memorial Hospital (CMH) is a 241- bed, non-profit acute care community hospital. CMH delivers a wide array of inpatient and outpatient services to patients of all ages. The hospital provides comprehensive inpatient programs in general surgery, urology, orthopedics, general and pulmonary medicine and obstetrics. CMH also delivers a broad range of diagnostic and outpatient services, with advanced programs in oncology, cardiology, ambulatory surgery, behavioral health, women's services and emergency medicine.
Hudson Valley Hospital Center
04/01/2008Cortlandt Manor, New York
Number of Beds: 128
Hudson Valley Hospital Center (HVHC), an atypical 128-bed community hospital located one hour north of New York City, was founded in 1889. The hospital’s mission to serve the healthcare needs of the community and to provide quality, comprehensive medical care in a compassionate, professional, respectful manner continues to guide staff today. In fulfilling this mission, the hospital strives for continuous improvement that most effectively responds to community healthcare needs.
Baptist Hospital of Miami
03/01/2008Miami, Florida
Number of Beds: 577
Baptist Hospital has served the Greater Miami community for nearly five decades earning a well-established reputation as the area's most preferred hospital. Ranking in the top 10th percentile in the nation for quality and service, the 577-bed hospital is a major medical center, attracting patients from all over South Florida — as well as thousands of people from more than 100 countries throughout the world.
Memorial Hospital Miramar
02/01/2008Miramar, Florida
Number of Beds: 178
Memorial Hospital Miramar, the fifth hospital of the renown, not-for-profit Memorial Healthcare System, is located in Miramar, Florida and was established on March 17, 2005. They are a 178-bed acute care facility who since opening their doors nearly three years ago, have focused all of their efforts on providing the highest quality care and fulfilling their goal of becoming one of the six safest hospitals in the nation – the other five being their sister facilities within the Memorial Healthcare System.
Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital
01/01/2008Hollywood, Florida
Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital, a facility of the public, not-for-profit Memorial Healthcare System in Hollywood, Florida, is a world-class children's hospital. JDCH combines compassionate care, advanced technology and the expertise of the largest diversity of board-certified specialists in the region.
Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast
12/01/2007Miramar Beach, Florida
Number of Beds: 58
Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast is a 58-bed hospital located in Miramar Beach, Florida. Since opening its doors to patient care in January 2003, the not-for-profit hospital has grown steadily and continues to fulfill its mission to improve the health of the community at large, with special attention to service of the poor.
Sutter Davis Hospital
11/01/2007Davis, California
Number of Beds: 48
Number of Employees: 425
Sutter Davis Hospital is a not-for-profit, 48-bed acute care hospital with a strong outpatient focus. Sutter Davis is committed to providing the communities they serve with dedicated health care professionals and comprehensive programs and services that provide healing to the body and mind.
Monroe County Hospital
10/01/2007Albia, Iowa
Number of Beds: 25
Number of Employees: 129
Monroe County Hospital is a very special place today. It's a place where people drive past other hospitals to work; the hospital that had 290 applications for 9 open positions last year and has a waiting list for jobs. Walk through the halls and you see employees high fiving one another and giving out wooden nickels in support of the behavioral standards. Departmental silos have been torn down, and employees genuinely like each other. Visitors can feel the difference when they enter. Patients get very good care. And physicians enjoy practicing medicine. A fire burns inside MCH called The MCH Difference.
Self Regional Healthcare
09/01/2007Greenwood, South Carolina
Number of Beds: 421
Number of Employees: 2300
Self Regional Healthcare is a 421-bed facility located in Greenwood, South Carolina that serves more than 250,000 persons in a seven-county region. Starting with a handpicked medical staff in 1951 to the evolution into a regional medical center, Self Regional's focus has always been on quality healthcare.
Hackensack University Medical Center
08/01/2007Hackensack, New Jersey
Number of Beds: 781
Number of Employees: 8711
Hackensack University Medical Center, a 781-bed teaching and research hospital affiliated with The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey–New Jersey Medical School, is the largest provider of inpatient and outpatient services in New Jersey.
Hocking Valley Community Hospital
07/01/2007Logan, Ohio
Number of Beds: 65
Number of Employees: 322
Hocking Valley Community Hospital, a Joint Commission accredited, 25 bed Critical Access Hospital in Logan, Ohio, located about 60 miles from Columbus, Ohio. HVCH was established at its current site in March 1966 and is in the heart of southeast Ohio. The hospital offers the community a 24 hour emergency service, urgent care center, an onsite 30 bed Skilled Nursing Facility, and a 10 bed geriatric psychiatric unit.
Clark Regional Medical Center
06/01/2007Winchester, Kentucky
Number of Beds: 112
Number of Employees: 438
In 1915, Clark Regional Medical Center, then Clark County Hospital, was granted a charter as a nonprofit organization by the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and began accepting patients on March 17, 1917. The hospital is located in Winchester, Kentucky, about 17 miles east of Lexington.<
Parkwest Medical Center Emergency Care Center
05/01/2007Knoxville, Tennessee
Number of Beds: 40
Parkwest Medical Center is a 307 bed community hospital located in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Emergency Care Center (ECC) is a 40 bed unit consisting of a 10 bed fast track area, a 10 bed telemetry-observation area, and a 20 bed main department of which 4 beds are configured as critical care rooms. The Emergency Care Center has received PRC’s 4 star award patient satisfaction for the past three years.
Palmetto Health Baptist Easley
04/01/2007Easley, South Carolina
Number of Beds: 109
In an unprecedented fashion Palmetto Health Baptist Easley (PHBE) is Studer Group's first two-time winner of the coveted Fire Starter of the Month Award. PHBE is a 109-bed general acute care facility located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Upstate region of northwestern South Carolina. Founded in 1958, our community-based hospital is part of the state's largest integrated healthcare system - Palmetto Health.
Valley Health System
03/01/2007Ridgewood, New Jersey
Number of Beds: 451
Number of Employees: 4100
In 2000, Valley redefined its vision to be The Health System of Choice. A review of our employee and patient satisfaction results for that year, however, indicated we were falling short of our goal.
Shands Rehab Hospital
02/02/2007Gainesville, Florida
Number of Beds: 40
In 2004, Shands HealthCare engaged Studer Group to advance a culture of service and operational excellence and launched "BEST" Building Excellent Service Together" program throughout the system. BEST is a system wide, employee-focused program that supports the system's mission and vision and sets up a foundation for everything we do at Shands.
Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital
01/01/2007Charleston, South Carolina
Number of Beds: 145
Number of Employees: 897
"Bricks, mortar and technology don't create a sustainable competitive advantage, people do," said Allen Carroll, Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital CEO.
Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital (BSSF) is known for quality and compassionate patient care and as the first Catholic hospital in the state of South Carolina and the only one in Charleston.
Valley West Community Hospital
12/01/2006Sandwich, Illinois
Number of Beds: 25
Number of Employees: 196
Valley West Community Hospital has been a tremendous success story for KishHealth System. Just four years ago, the hospital was facing serious financial issues, inconsistent patient satisfaction results, and low employee morale. At that time, Valley West senior leadership was restructured along with a reorganization of the governance structure to enhance an integrated system approach to operating Valley West.
Carolinas HealthCare System-Mecklenburg
11/01/2006Charlotte, North Carolina
Number of Beds: 4300
Number of Employees: 25300
Carolinas HealthCare System (CHS) is the third largest not-for-profit healthcare system in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, CHS owns, leases and manages hospitals, physician practices, specialty services and long-term care facilities in North and South Carolina. The System is comprised of over 4,300 beds and 25,300 employees.
In 2004, CHS identified customer service as a key business imperative. Senior Leadership determined that CHS would work to develop a culture of Service Excellence. CHS engaged the Studer Group as partners in this culture change. They began monthly coaching, Facility and Corporate teams were developed, a Leadership Development Institute was established, and the journey began.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
10/01/2006Nashville, Tennessee
Two years ago Vanderbilt University Medical Center launched Elevate, a medical center-wide effort to improve the environment for patients, physicians, employees, trainees and students. Vanderbilt was already nationally recognized for excellence in many areas. But Dr. Harry Jacobson, Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs had ambitious goals, including that Vanderbilt become one of the nation’s top 10 academic medical centers and a Fortune 100 employer – something that an academic medical center has never achieved.
Hardin Medical Center
09/01/2006Savannah, Tennessee
Number of Beds: 58
Number of Employees: 336
Hardin Medical Center, in Savannah, Tennessee, was established in 1952. Over the last 54 years it has grown in capacity and in its commitment to the community. It is a 58 bed acute care hospital, accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, with 24-hour emergency service.
Medical Center of Plano
08/01/2006Plano, Texas
Number of Beds: 427
Number of Employees: 1380
On extremely rare occasions, positive forces converge upon the same location at a critical point in time. In the business world, it is these desired occurrences that have a tremendous impact on any facility. These actions result in attainment of levels of success not before realized or imagined. Whether planned or accidental, they propel organizations to enviable heights when compared with others in their particular industry.
Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital
07/01/2006Downers Grove, Illinois
Number of Beds: 283
Two years ago, Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital was a good hospital.
The 340-bed facility located in Downers Grove, Illinois, was seated in the middle of one of the nation’s most competitive health care environments – DuPage County, suburban Chicago. Renown for their Level I Trauma Center, Level III Perinatal Services and highly acclaimed cardiac and cancer care programs, Good Samaritan Hospital was a leader in quality outcomes, employee satisfaction and financial performance. The hospital was also a leading performer in Advocate Health Care, the largest fully integrated health care delivery system in metropolitan Chicago and the state of Illinois, recognized as one of the top health care systems in the country.
Sharp Rees Stealy Urgent Care Centers
06/01/2006San Diego, California
Number of Beds: 1867
Number of Employees: 12000
Nationally known for superior clinical practices and research, Sharp Rees-Stealy has been certified – an industry benchmark for quality of care and services – by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care. Sharp Rees-Stealy has five Urgent Care Centers in San Diego County. Collectively, we care for more than 10,000 patients per month and register over 120,000 visits annually.
Temple University Hospital-Episcopal Campus
05/01/2006Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Number of Beds: 129
Number of Employees: 510
In the year 1999, the hospital experienced its ultimate challenge in the changing health care marketplace. Population declines in North Philadelphia were severe, with more than an 18% loss of population over 15 years. This resulted in a 6.5% decline in hospital volume over a two-year period in the mid- 1990’s. Faced with a significant loss of its patient base, soaring health care costs and with government under funding for the services, the hospital confronted the stark possibility of closing.
Shands at the University of Florida
04/01/2006Gainesville, Florida
Number of Beds: 602
Number of Employees: 3245
Shands at the University of Florida is a 626-bed academic medical center providing highly specialized, complex medical care. Established in 1958 in Gainesville, Fla., Shands at UF is one of nine hospitals in the Shands HealthCare system, a private not-for-profit health system located in north central Florida.
Shands at UF has consistently scored in the 95-97 percentile in the last five quarters for “Likelihood to Recommend”.
Carolinas Medical Center - Randolph
03/01/2006Charlotte, North Carolina
Number of Beds: 68
Number of Employees: 450
CMC Randolph’s inpatient programs operate at a combined 91% occupancy with 100,000 outpatient visits and 16,000 emergency visits per year. The 24/7 clinical, call center fields 120,000 inquiries per year. The top priority for CMC Randolph staff is providing excellent, compassionate service in an efficient manner to patients and their families.
Columbus Regional Hospital
02/01/2006Columbus, Indiana
Number of Beds: 235
Number of Employees: 1116
Columbus Regional Hospital is a 225-bed regional hospital located in Columbus, Indiana, serving ten counties in southeastern Indiana. We are a not-for-profit, county-owned hospital delivering patient care through 35 medical specialties with 220 physicians on medical staff. Our patient satisfaction scores for 2005 were at an all-time high, recognizing the outstanding achievement by our employees, physicians, and volunteers to deliver the highest level of care and service.
Shands Starke
01/01/2006Starke, Florida
Number of Beds: 25
Number of Employees: 218
At Shands Starke our commitment to quality begins with our people. After having the opportunity to attend presentations by Quint Studer and read his book, Hardwiring Excellence, our leaders began to be engaged. Then our Studer Coach, Page Sternung came to visit. She sparked a flame, encouraging and challenging us to be the BEST.
Clark Memorial Hospital
12/01/2005Jeffersonville, Indiana
Number of Beds: 241
Number of Employees: 913
The management team came to a realization in 2000 that change was needed. No one looked like they were having fun; nobody would say hello to anyone; everyone was just going through the motions and leaving their hearts at the door. Team member turnover was at 20 percent. Change was needed. Having just come to realization that the hospital was not just saving lives, but more enhancing lives, the management team had to focus on reducing turnover and provide great patient care.
Monroe County Hospital
11/01/2005Albia, Iowa
Number of Beds: 25
Number of Employees: 111
“We want to be different!” The Management Team at Monroe County Hospital in Albia,Iowa first uttered that phrase in 2000 at a strategic planning retreat. The hospital’s employee satisfaction was in the 48th percentile and turnover was 26%, patient satisfaction was in the 43rd percentile, and cash in the bank had dropped by 35%. “We want to be different” meant “we don’t want to be average anymore.”
Good Samaritan Hospital
10/01/2005Baltimore, Maryland
Number of Beds: 244
Number of Employees: 1389
To reinforce our commitment to service excellence, a copy of the story of the Good Samaritan is framed in the main conference center (where the orientation takes place), along with posters show casing the hospital’s annual operating plan, its six core values and related behavior standards, and more than a dozen stories of Champion Good Samaritans - or employees that have gone "above and beyond" our code of standards to deliver ideal care to the community.
Homestead Hospital
09/01/2005Homestead, Florida
Number of Beds: 116
Number of Employees: 471
Over time, and especially throughout the last decade, the culture of the hospital’s employees and medical staff has been one that values quality, clinical outcomes, and patient care. Investments in infrastructure and people helped the hospital become a fine, well respected organization. But with one of the state’s most rapidly growing communities spurring broadened health care needs and the advent of rising consumer expectations for service excellence in the hospital setting, the leadership at
Sacred Heart Hospital
08/01/2005Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Number of Beds: 194
Number of Employees: 701
Every health care organization aspires to make the leap from Good to Great, but once that success is achieved it may be short-lived or, worse, the achievement itself becomes the enemy as an institution rests on its laurels and stagnates. In true Franciscan fashion, the passion of the Sacred Heart Hospital leadership team is: "What is worth doing is worth doing well, to the best of our ability, not just once, but every day."
Sumner Regional Health Systems, Inc.
07/01/2005Gallatin, Tennessee
Number of Beds: 165
Number of Employees: 775
While SRHS was not an organization suffering from any visible signs of low morale, and its financial state was good - in fact, above average - the senior staff had long been committed to the idea of becoming a "stand-out" organization.
Blue Ridge HealthCare
06/01/2005Morganton, North Carolina
Number of Beds: 468
Number of Employees: 1253
Blue Ridge HealthCare (BRHC) was created in 1999 by the union of long-time competitors with conflicting cultures from historically rival communities in Morganton and Valdese, NC. At that point in the life of the new system, the cultural divide between employees based in Valdese and Morganton was as deep as the valleys criss crossing the surrounding foothills. Employee, physician and community buy-in to the idea of a unified healthcare system was at an unhealthy level.
Memorial Healthcare
05/01/2005Owosso, Michigan
Number of Beds: 131
Number of Employees: 1875
While in pursuit of service and operational excellence, Memorial Healthcare in Owosso, Michigan has found crucial keys to success. They know that the real power behind growth is not markets, technology, competition or services. It’s one thing- the right people working on the right opportunities. With over 1,100 physicians and employees, this independent community hospital has engaged their workforce by forming service excellence teams, tackling the tough questions, developing their leaders, and communicating at all levels.
St. Anne Mercy Hospital
04/01/2005Toledo, OH
Number of Beds: 142
Number of Employees: 465
Care You Can Believe In means excellent clinical care and service for patients and their families.
Mercy Health Partners has made believers out of its employees, physicians, patients and families - and now adds the Studer Group to its list of believers.
Mercy Hospital of Willard
04/01/2005Willard, OH
Number of Beds: 25
Number of Employees: 153
Care You Can Believe In.
Mercy Health Partners has made believers out of its employees, physicians, patients and families - and now adds the Studer Group to its list of believers.
Centegra Health System
03/01/2005McHenry County, IL
Number of Beds: 308
Everything was not quite so hot a few years ago. Under financial and growth pressures that were typical of the last two decades, Centegra Health System’s collection of community health care facilities merged and grew until it had become the largest healthcare provider in McHenry County, Illinois.
Wright Medical Center
02/01/2005Clarion, IA
Number of Beds: 25
Number of Employees: 142
There is something to be said about the excitement one feels when getting a personal phone call from the guru of health care himself. That feeling soars to a whole different level when Quint Studer is then telling you that you have been selected to receive the Fire Starter Award courtesy of the Studer Group.
Rewind four years...to a time when the senior leaders at Wright Medical Center attended Quint’s "Taking You and Your Organization to the Next Level with Quint Studer (Nine Principles® to Service and Operational Excellence)" institute in Pensacola, there was excitement and an overwhelming feeling at the thought of changing the culture in our small, rural hospital.
Southern Regional Health System
01/01/2005Riverdale, GA
Number of Beds: 410
Number of Employees: 2400
Since implementing the Studer Group’s blueprint for success, Southern Regional is reporting its highest patient satisfaction and quality of care scores. In addition, Southern Regional was recently named by the Atlanta Business Chronicle as one of its’ "A+ Employers", for the second year. "Our goal is to be the employer of choice and remain the health care provider of choice within the Southern Crescent.
All Saints Healthcare
12/01/2004Racine, Wisconsin
Number of Beds: 253
Number of Employees: 3300
A partner of Studer Group since the beginning of 2002, All Saints Healthcare celebrates these results:People: Employee Satisfaction is at the 92nd percentile with over 80% participation rate. All Saints Healthcare has been ranked one of the top ten employers in Southeastern Wisconsin since 2002. System turnover is less than 12% (having been at 16% three years ago).
Palmetto Health Baptist Easley
11/01/2004Easley, South Carolina
Number of Beds: 79
Number of Employees: 481
Palmetto Health Baptist Easley (PHBE) is a 109-bed general acute care facility located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Upstate region of northwestern South Carolina. Founded in 1958, our community-based hospital is part of the state's largest integrated healthcare system - Palmetto Health.
In 1996, through the leadership of our chief administrator, Roddey E. Gettys, III, we transitioned from a traditional healthcare organizational structure to self-directed management teams.
Baptist Health System
10/01/2004San Antonio, Texas
Number of Beds: 1116
Number of Employees: 3905
This five-hospital system was selected because of significant strides it has made in improving patient satisfaction, employee satisfaction and market share in the past 20 months. Among the achievements noted as reasons for selecting BHS as the October Fire Starter are: inpatient satisfaction rating at the 90th percentile, outpatient satisfaction rating at the 82nd percentile, and emergency department patient satisfaction at the 99th percentile - all higher than the Vanguard Health Systems’ ratings and the national ratings.
Provena Health
09/01/2004Illinois Catholic Health System
Number of Beds: 1332
We were a system that operated in silos with relatively high turnover, lack of employee pride, minimal communication, bleak financials, and very low patient satisfaction. With these barriers it is apparent why we were struggling to live our mission (Provena Health, a Catholic health system, builds communities of healing and hope by compassionately responding to human need in the spirit of Jesus Christ), our vision (Provena Health providers are known for clinical and service excellence, and are the preferred provider of choice based on responsiveness to community needs, quality, value, and innovation) and our values (Respect, Integrity, Stewardship, Excellence).
Memorial Healthcare System
08/01/2004Hollywood, FL
Number of Beds: 1170
Number of Employees: 9800
With dynamic leadership, clear vision and a vibrant and positive working environment, Memorial Healthcare System continues to meet challenges and build on its strength as a healthcare leader.
St. Elizabeth Community Hospital
07/01/2004Red Bluff, CA
Number of Beds: 64
Number of Employees: 294
Serving many growing rural communities in Northern California for nearly 100 years, the outstanding staff at St. Elizabeth Community Hospital has been dedicated to providing the best care possible, with the efforts of everyone in all areas of the hospital. With new focus employee satisfaction increased, patient satisfaction increased and physician satisfaction scores were addressed and showed impressive improvements.
Redding Medical Center Team
06/01/2004Redding, CA
Number of Beds: 250
Number of Employees: 1425
Redding Medical Center began its journey towards excellence as part of Tenet Healthcare System’s Target 100 initiative in July of 2001. The facility embraced the tools of the Studer Group. These aids helped the hospital create a results-oriented culture. The hospital’s overarching goal was to be the hospital of choice for employees, patients and physicians in far Northern California.
St. Mary’s Medical Center
05/01/2004Huntington, West Virginia
Number of Beds: 369
Number of Employees: 1835
St. Mary’s view this designation as an acknowledgement of our determination to make a true cultural change in our organization. While special thanks goes to Sr. Diane Bushee, S.A.C., St. Mary’s Vice President of Mission Integration, for her unwavering commitment to building service excellence at St. Mary’s, we dedicate this Fire Starter Award to each and every employee, physician and volunteer who has joined us on this journey.
The Pekin Hospital Team
04/01/2004Pekin, Illinois
Number of Beds: 107
Number of Employees: 466
Over the past year, Pekin has achieved results. As all great success stories go, it all started with a commitment at the top. Pekin’s Board of Directors and CEO, Doug Wilson, made a commitment in 2002 to focus on customer service and quality. That commitment paid off and has had some very impressive results. Press Ganey patient satisfaction had soared, employee opinion survey results have a very high baseline to start form, and a physician CME on communication and customer service has been outstanding.
The Team of Frye Regional Medical Center
03/01/2004Hickory, North Carolina
Number of Beds: 355
Frye Regional Medical Center in Hickory, North Carolina, earned the highest patient satisfaction scores in 2003 out of 117 hospitals in Tenet, HealthCare, the second largest healthcare organization in America. This solidified Frye as a Five Star hospital, one of only three in Tenet and a national leader in the area of patient satisfaction.
"This is a tremendous honor for our dedicated staff and shows our commitment to patient satisfaction," said Frye CEO Dennis Phillips. "We do not just talk about patient satisfaction at Frye, we live it every day."