Saint Luke's Hospital Wins Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award

by Jack Cashill

Saint Luke's Hospital near Kansas City's Country Club Plaza. Photo courtesy of Saint Luke's.

In the history of the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, only three health care entities in America have received top honors, and only two of those were hospitals.

One of those two is Saint Luke's Hospital, a 582-bed tertiary care hospital in mid-town Kansas City. After an exhausting selection process that included a four day on-site review by a seven-person team, Saint Luke's bested 15 other finalists to win the 2003 award, the first business of any kind in Kansas City to win.

The U.S. Department of Commerce does the selecting.

Typically, the President of the United States presents the award, which honors achievements in quality and performance. Criteria for the award include leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, information and analysis, human resource focus, process management, and business results. Saint Luke's and other award winners will be showcased at Quest for Excellence, the official conference of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, in spring 2004 in Washington, D.C.

This is one of the few award contests in which the very process of applying actually benefits the applicants. There is nothing gratuitous about it. Saint Luke's, in fact, adopted the Baldrige criteria as its business model in 1995. According to CEO Rich Hastings, the self- examination and external scrutiny to which hospital staff submit inevitably improves the quality of service delivery.

CEO, Rich Hastings hosted a press conference on Nov. 25, 2003 to announce Saint Luke's Hospital won the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

Hasting cited the example of the hospital's previous application. At the time, the hospital received high ratings in all categories except one, supply management. The hospital took the award committee's constructive advice to heart. "We're a top performer in that area now," says Hastings proudly. "The competition was a great motivator for our employees."

The patients can sense the heightened motivation as well. Indeed, the Baldrige judges interview patients to make sure that staff performance has a real effect on the end users. "All of our employees know the mission and how they fit in," says Hastings, "and that makes a difference."

If the process of competing benefits the patients, the winning of the competition has many and obvious benefits for the institution and its administration. For starters, it is a great morale boost internally. "Our turnover rate is the lowest in Kansas City," notes Hastings, "and for nurses it is among the lowest in the country." The award has also been a boon for professional recruiting, an on-going struggle for all health care institutions.

Just as importantly, the award has elevated the stature of Saint Luke's in the eyes of the managed care companies. Although local companies have long been aware of Saint Luke's reputation, the tangible nature of the award helps the managed care entities in their marketing, especially to national companies. "We always believed we were good," says Hastings. "It's nice to have that verified."

Saint Luke's Hospital near Kansas City's Country Club Plaza. Photo courtesy of Saint Luke's.

CEO, Rich Hastings hosted a press conference on Nov. 25, 2003 to announce Saint Luke's Hospital won the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.