16 Sep 2014 Conway Regional achieves Governor's Top Award for Quality

Gov. Mike Beebe presented the Governor’s Award for Performance Excellence to Conway Regional Health System on Monday during the 20th annual Awards Celebration for the Governor’s Quality Award.

In all, 28 organizations from throughout the state were presented quality awards during the celebration at the Marriott Hotel in Downtown Little Rock.

Conway Regional was the only healthcare organization achieving the Governor’s Award, which is the highest award bestowed by the quality awards program. Conway Regional is also the first organization from its five-county market area (Faulkner, Perry, Van Buren, Cleburne and Conway counties) to achieve this prestigious award. Conway Regional was awarded the Achievement Award, the second highest level, last year in its first year to apply.

“I want to express my deepest gratitude to the physicians, employees and volunteers who are the heart and soul of our health system. This tremendous achievement would not be possible without their dedication to quality,” said Jim Lambert, Conway Regional’s president and CEO. “We strive every day to make Conway Regional a quality organization – that is the very heart of our mission – we live it and breathe it. We continually strive to improve how we provide our patients with the best healthcare possible, delivered with sincere compassion and sensitivity.”

More than 400 business and civic leaders from throughout Arkansas also attended the celebration.

The goal of the Governor’s Quality Award Program is to encourage Arkansas organizations to engage in continuous quality improvement, which leads to performance excellence, and to provide significant recognition to those organizations. Created as a not-for-profit organization, the program is dedicated to assist in building a strong infrastructure for Arkansas businesses. That dedication is reflected in the program’s vision to be a catalyst for excellence in organizational performance. The Governor’s Quality Award program partners with the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce.

Conway Regional Health System provides complete, compassionate health care services to the growing communities of north Central Arkansas. The 154-bed, not-for-profit medical center serves patients with comprehensive care including the state’s top rated cardiovascular surgery program, as well as cancer diagnosis and treatment, women’s services, and rehabilitation therapy services. Additional components of the Conway Regional Health System include an all-digital outpatient imaging center, an outpatient surgery center, a free-standing rehabilitation hospital, several primary care clinics and one of the largest hospital-owned fitness centers in the nation. Close to 1,800 babies were born last year at Conway Regional and the emergency department is one of the busiest in Arkansas averaging close to 40,000 visits annually.