Premier Wins Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award

Winter 2007

The Premier Inc. health care alliance is the only U.S. service company to win the 2006 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA). With this award, Richard Norling becomes the second SPH Master in Healthcare Administration (M.H.A.) alumnus to win the prestigious honor.

Each year, the U.S. Commerce Department recognizes up to three organizations in each of the following categories: education, health care, manufacturing, service, and small business. The award is traditionally presented by the president of the United States.

"This award is a tribute not only to our employees, but also to the commitment of our member hospitals across the nation," says Norling, president and CEO of Premier Inc. "These farsighted community hospitals created Premier as a way to work together to continuously improve patient outcomes while safely reducing the cost of care.

"Our staff deserves tremendous recognition for their dedication to this effort and their embrace of the principles of continuous improvement embodied by the Baldrige criteria."

Premier is one of the nation’s largest health care alliances, jointly owned as a shared resource by approximately 200 not-for-profit hospitals and health systems. They operate or are affiliated with about 1,500 hospitals and hundreds of other care sites.

Norling joined Premier in September 1997, initially as chief operating officer. Before that, he was president and chief executive officer of Fairview Health Services, which serves the people of Minnesota through an integrated system of hospitals, clinics, and other service sites. He earned an M.H.A. from the University of Minnesota in 1975.