HAP Announces 2023 Achievement Award Winners

Twelve hospital and health system projects recognized for improving health in Pennsylvania

February 28, 2023

Harrisburg, PA (February 28, 2023) – The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) is recognizing 12 projects led by Pennsylvania health care teams that embody hospitals’ mission to provide high-quality care and improve their communities’ health.

Started in 1978, HAP’s annual Achievement Awards program recognizes hospitals and health systems that are employing innovative approaches to strengthening the safety and quality of care, enhancing operations and patients’ experience, and partnering with their communities to address public health needs. This year’s winners were selected from 82 entries.

“Pennsylvania hospitals and health systems are dedicated to not just treating illnesses and injuries but being partners in improving the health of their patients and communities,” HAP President and CEO Andy Carter said. “These award-winning projects exemplify the extraordinary work of Pennsylvania’s hospital community to enhance Pennsylvanians’ health; advance health equity; and improve the quality, delivery, and safety of care.”

Entries are judged in three size divisions, resulting in up to three awards in each of the four categories: Community Champions, Optimal Operations, In Safe Hands, and Excellence in Care. The Living the Vision Award—celebrating innovation and bold interventions that transform the patient experience, address overall health, and improve value—is selected from the entire pool of entries across all size divisions.

The 2023 Achievement Award winners are:

Community Champions Award

• Einstein Medical Center Montgomery—for a campaign to improve Hepatitis B vaccination rates for infants born at the hospital.
• Main Line Health—for efforts to address food insecurity as part of patients’ overall health.

Optimal Operations Award

• Warren General Hospital—for implementing a financial turnaround to preserve access to hospital care in a rural community.
• Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital—for implementing a new team-based approach to nursing to reduce staff turnover and vacancies, improve patient and staff satisfaction, and improve quality.
• Allegheny Health Network Jefferson Hospital—for efforts to increase the racial diversity of its health care workforce by recruiting and supporting local students from underrepresented communities.

In Safe Hands Award

• Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital—for implementing new procedures to reduce hospital-acquired infections.
• WellSpan Health—for implementing a real-time problem-solving process to learn from and reduce serious patient safety events.

Excellence in Care Award

• UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital—for studying how to safely and effectively taper off or reduce usage of psychotropic medications for patients with both psychiatric disorders and autism spectrum disorder or intellectual disability.
• Penn Highlands Mon Valley—for deploying a team to address patients’ barriers to health, improve outcomes, and reduce preventable readmissions.
• St. Luke’s University Health Network—for creating a task force to reduce readmissions following a behavioral health emergency.

Living the Vision Award

• Temple Health—for working to improve health outcomes and health equity by identifying and addressing barriers to patients’ health.
• Honorable Mention: Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania - Cedar Avenue​—for implementing a “hub-and-spoke” model to maintain access to high-quality ­surgical care in a historically marginalized community.

Winning teams will be recognized during HAP’s annual Leadership Summit, scheduled for April 11 and 12 in Harrisburg.

Additional information about the awards program and detailed descriptions of the winning projects are available online.