FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WASHINGTON — America’s Essential Hospitals recognized six member hospitals for their outstanding work in improving health care quality, population health, and operational excellence.
The 2025 Gage Award winners were announced at VITAL2025, America’s Essential Hospitals’ annual meeting, in Atlanta.
“Our members reach outside their walls to meet patients where they are and provide superior, person-centered care,” said Bruce Siegel, MD, MPH, president and CEO of America’s Essential Hospitals. “These awards spotlight innovative solutions that reflect their commitment to their mission.”
2025 Award for Quality Improvement: Natividad Medical Center, Salinas, Calif.
Natividad Medical Center leadership educated staff at community clinics about monitoring and treating anemia and opened an infusion center for iron infusion therapy, all with the goal of decreasing anemia in pregnant patients and decreasing transfusion rates.
“We are deeply honored to receive the Gage Award for our ‘Hospital-Led Outreach to Reduce Anemia at Time of Delivery’ project,” said Chad Harris, MD, CEO, Natividad Medical Center. “This recognition reflects our commitment to improving maternal health outcomes, particularly for our Latina and Indigenous communities. Together with our dedicated team and community partners, we are proud to bring accessible, high-quality care to our patients. We hope this program serves as a model of care for other health care systems.”
Recognizing that undergoing multiple rounds of infusions posed a barrier to treatment for patients, hospital leaders secured Medicaid coverage for single-infusion therapy courses. From 2021 to 2024, the anemia rate at participating clinics fell from 18.4 to 11.7%.
Honorable Mention: NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi and North Central Bronx
Prompted by an employee who was grieving her own parents, the hospitals launched the Compassion for Community: Continuing Care after Death program. The program sought to improve family support and facilitate the funeral process. The program improved decedent release times—in 2024, 90% of decedents were released in five days or less, greenhouse gas emissions were reduced by 13.1 metric tons, and $90,000 was saved in overtime in the first year by minimizing refrigerated trailer use.
“End of life care presents its own set of challenging complications for patients and their families,” said NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi | North Central Bronx CEO Christopher Mastromano. “Unnecessary delays in the burial process don’t just delay the grieving process, they can put serious financial strain on loved ones as well as on hospitals themselves. I’m grateful to our innovative team for developing the ‘Compassion for Community: Continuing Care After Death’ program, which can provide education and resources to those in need so they can address these difficult matters.”
2025 AWARD FOR POPULATION HEALTH: Valleywise Health, Phoenix
Valleywise Health established the Women’s Refugee Health Clinic in 2008 to serve as a culturally grounded, patient-centered medical home for this community, which became part of the Valleywise Health Center for Refugee and Global Health in 2022. The center provides health care services via several clinics and works to minimize barriers to care, including transportation, health literacy, and treatment adherence.
“We are truly humbled and honored to receive this recognition for Valleywise Health’s remarkable refugee health program,” said Steve Purves, president and CEO, Valleywise Health. “It truly is a national model for providing culturally and linguistically appropriate comprehensive health services to refugee families. We are committed to continuing this important program to provide our refugee patients with exceptional care.”
In 2024, the center served 17,000 refugee patients from 71 countries. The center has provided health literacy classes to more than 800 patients, adult refugee services to 1,437 men, and HIV/AIDS care to 880 adult refugees. Health care providers delivered 212 babies at the Refugee Women’s Health Clinic and installed more than 300 car seats for mothers who completed child safety classes.
Honorable Mention: ECMC, Buffalo, N.Y.
ECMC launched a remote patient monitoring program to mitigate barriers to treatment for patients with hypertension after discovering high patient hypertension rates, including among 56% of Black patients. Participants receive a blood pressure cuff at no cost and attend telehealth visits to assist with monitoring health behaviors, and ECMC collaborates with community organizations to provide blood pressure screenings at local events.
“This recognition affirms our caregivers’ passion for improving the health of vulnerable populations in our community,” said Thomas Quatroche Jr., PhD, CEO, ECMC Corporation.“Through our remote patient monitoring program, we’re breaking down barriers by bringing blood pressure management into patients’ homes and expanding access to care. This award is another important affirmation of our team’s dedication to delivering effective care where it’s needed most.”
Since 2022, ECMC has enrolled more than 900 primary care patients in the program, and the hypertension control rate among ECMC primary care clinics increased from 44.2% in 2022 to 69% in 2024.
2025 AWARD FOR OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE: University Health, San Antonio
University Health launched a Hospital at Home program that provides hospital-level care in the comfort of a patient’s home. Patients receive medical equipment and internet-connected digital tablets for telehealth visits and education. Nurses visit twice a day, and patients have access to remote vital signs monitoring, physical and occupational therapy, labs and intravenous medications, and social support.
“Hospital at Home has really opened our eyes to the complete care of the patient,” said Ed Banos, CEO, University Health. “Program nurses can see if patients have good housing, family support, adequate food and transportation. It has also had a profound halo effect for the entire hospital. We admit more than 40,000 patients a year, and bed capacity is at a premium. If we see 20 or 30 of these patients at home, patients in the ER get into their own rooms that much faster.”
Since 2021, the Hospital at Home program has cared for more than 3,100 patients, freeing more than 16,400 hospital beds for sicker patients. The program has reduced readmissions, increased patient satisfaction, and saved University Health more than $17 million.
Honorable Mention: Bergen New Bridge Medical Center, Paramus, N.J.
Bergen New Bridge Medical Center’s Center for Comprehensive Addiction Treatment aims to expand access to withdrawal management services and substance abuse disorder treatment by offering involuntary and voluntary crisis units, withdrawal management, and short-term residential care.
“We have been a leader in addiction treatment for years, and our ‘no wrong door’ approach ensures individualized full service comprehensive treatment is provided in a caring, stigma free environment,” said Deborah Visconi, MHA, president and CEO, Bergen New Bridge Medical Center. “The Gage Award is a testament to the extraordinary work our substance use disorder and recovery teams do every day in saving lives and improving outcomes.”
In 2024, the program served 3,938 individuals with inpatient care and provided 17,613 units of intensive outpatient care. Rates of treatment refusal post-discharge have decreased from 21% in 2022 to 12% in 2024. The rate of those leaving against medical advice also dropped, from 13.59 % in 2022 to 8.6% in 2024.
discover more
Honorable mention programs are highlighted in the latest episode of Essential Stories, the association’s podcast highlighting member hospital innovations. A new guide, Excellence and Innovation in Care: The 2025 Gage Awards, features more about these programs, along with additional highlighted programs at Harris Health, in Houston; Parkland Health, in Dallas; Temple University Health System – Episcopal Campus, in Philadelphia; Memorial Healthcare System, in Hollywood, Fla.; University Health, in Kansas City, Mo.; Nashville General Hospital, in Nashville, Tenn.; Regional One Health, in Memphis, Tenn.; JPS Health Network, in Fort Worth, Texas; and NYC Health + Hospitals, in New York.
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About America’s Essential Hospitals
America’s Essential Hospitals is the leading association and champion for hospitals dedicated to high-quality care for all, including those who face social and financial barriers to care. Since 1981, America’s Essential Hospitals has advanced policies and programs that promote health and access to health care. We support our more than 350 members with advocacy, policy development, research, education, and leadership development. Communities depend on essential hospitals for care across the continuum, health care workforce training, research, public health, and other services. Supported by Essential Hospitals Institute, the association’s research and education arm, essential hospitals innovate and adapt to lead all of health care toward better outcomes and value.
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