Memorial Blood Centers Receives Minnesota Quality Award

ST. PAUL, Minn., May 19, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Local dignitaries and leaders in business, non-profits, education, and government came together recently to honor Memorial Blood Centers (MBC) and a select group of other Minnesota organizations as recipients of the 2010 Minnesota Quality Award. Sponsored by the Minnesota Council for Quality, the 20th Annual Learning & Recognition Event was held Tuesday, May 17, 2011, at the Landmark Center in St. Paul to celebrate best practices in organizational innovation and recognize achievements in performance excellence.

Accepting the award, MBC Chief Executive Officer Donald Berglund acknowledged the work of the Minnesota Council for Quality in helping organizations throughout the state make meaningful changes to their products, services, processes, and business models to improve productivity and build sustainable competitiveness.  "I'm truly honored to accept this year's Minnesota Quality Award and proud of the accomplishments MBC has already achieved as we've traveled on our quality journey," he said. "We have fully embraced the Minnesota Quality Award criteria. We have integrated the Baldrige Health Care Criteria for performance excellence as our business model.  And we are fully committed to continuing to develop a quality culture that delivers excellence to customers, actively engages the workforce, and streamlines processes to enhance the impact we make on the lives of others."

Established in 1991, the Minnesota Quality Award has previously been given to just 114 organizations that have successfully completed a full assessment using either a narrative- or survey-based approach. Awards are presented at four levels, intended to recognize organizations at the appropriate stage of their improvement journey. Memorial Blood Centers also received a Minnesota Quality Award at the Advancement level in 2008.

About Memorial Blood Centers

Memorial Blood Centers has been helping to save lives for over 60 years as an independent nonprofit supplying life-saving blood to area hospitals and other partners throughout the U.S. Operating 11 donor centers and conducting hundreds of blood drives each month, Memorial Blood Centers also provides comprehensive testing and expert technical services as a national leader in transfusion medicine. For more information, call 888-GIVE-BLD or visit MBC.org.

SOURCE Memorial Blood Centers