by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
The company with the largest hospital in Jacksonville is now one of the largest award winners in Florida.
Shands HealthCare was awarded the Governor’s Sterling Award Friday at a ceremony in Orlando, becoming the largest organization to receive the honor. The award was created in 1992 and has served as a measuring stick for businesses to gauge their overall operation and customer service.
“Tim Goldfarb (CEO of Shands HealthCare) has a vision related to quality,” said Steven Blumberg, vice president of planning and business development for Shands HealthCare. “We not only want to achieve benchmarks in our own industry, but across our state and all industries.”
The Governor’s Sterling Award and its management model were created in the vision of the National Malcolm Baldridge Criteria for Performance Excellence.
The national award is named for Malcolm Baldrige, Secretary of Commerce from 1981 until his death in a rodeo accident in 1987. Baldrige is known for managerial expertise that helped improve the efficiency of government.
“The Shands Hospital in Gainesville receives people from all over the state,” said Blumberg, “so we have the responsibility to make sure we provide the highest quality of service to all the people across the state.”
Shands HealthCare, which incorporates the entire organization, went through a six-month application and review process to be considered for the award. The Florida Sterling Council visited all eight hospitals in the organization and interviewed everyone from nursing to housekeeping to get an idea of how the organization was operating.
“They talked with anyone who was involved with a patient’s experience,” said Blumberg.
Shands Health Care has 2,000 beds available and employs about 13,000 people to serve those beds. Jacksonville is home to 3,600 of those jobs.