Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare CEO honored with national leadership award from Baldrige Foundation

MEMPHIS, Tenn., Jan. 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare President and CEO Michael Ugwueke is the recipient of the Harry S. Hertz Leadership Award from the Baldrige Foundation, the organization announced today.

The Harry S. Hertz Leadership Award recognizes role-model leaders from across the U.S. that challenge, encourage and empower others to achieve performance excellence. Leaders from all business sectors are considered. The Baldrige Foundation supports organizational performance excellence in the United States and throughout the world.

"Michael is a role-model leader who has consistently over the years applied the principles of the Baldrige Framework to his leadership approach," said Al Faber, President and CEO of the Foundation for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, Inc. "He has served the Baldrige Community as a Baldrige Examiner and ambassador for the Baldrige Framework."

The Baldrige Foundation created the Harry S. Hertz leadership award in 2013. It was named after Harry Hertz, the first winner, because he personified the Baldrige Core Values and Leadership Behaviors: visionary leadership, customer-focused excellence, valuing people, organizational learning and agility, managing for innovation, management by fact, societal responsibility, ethics and transparency, delivering value and results, and a systems perspective.

Harry Hertz is not a household name, but in C-Suites throughout the country, and at the executive level of manufacturers, school systems and healthcare systems, Harry Hertz is legendary. Until retiring in June of 2013, Dr. Hertz was the Director of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program and is the person largely credited for keeping the Criteria for Performance Excellence relevant in a rapidly changing world.

Including the award's namesake, Dr. Ugwueke is only the ninth individual to receive this prestigious award. "On behalf of the Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare board of directors and our 13,000 employees, I am truly honored to receive this recognition. Dr. Hertz is a giant in the field of performance excellence and it is humbling to receive an award that bears his name," said Ugwueke. "At Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, we consider performance excellence to be a top priority as we strive to consistently provide safe, high quality care to those we are privileged to serve."

The Baldrige Foundation considers nominees from across the nation for this prestigious award. The nominees' leadership and achievements are carefully considered, including how they lead their organizations and inspire their teams to achieve high performance, and their accomplishments in becoming counselors for excellence throughout the Baldrige community.

Traditionally, the Baldrige Foundation's Leadership Awards are presented during the Foundation Awards Program held as part of the annual Quest for Excellence conference. Because the conference was postponed last year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the 2021 conference being virtual, the foundation will be conducting a virtual awards presentation event on April 14, 2021.

About The Foundation for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, Inc.
The Baldrige Foundation is the private-sector partner of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program (BPEP) in the National Institute of Standards and Technology within the Department of Commerce. Its mission is to ensure the long-term financial viability of BPEP and to support organizational performance excellence. 

About Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare
Based in Memphis, Tennessee, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare (MLH) has been caring for patients and families regardless of ability to pay for more than 100 years. Guided by roots in the United Methodist Church and founded in 1918 to help meet the growing need for quality healthcare in the greater Memphis area, MLH has grown from one hospital into a comprehensive healthcare system with 13,000 Associates supporting six hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, outpatient facilities, hospice residence and physician practices serving communities across the Mid-South. From transplants and advanced heart procedures to expert neurology services and compassionate cancer care, MLH offers clinical expertise with a focus on improving every life we touch.

SOURCE Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare