Meritus is a national Baldrige Award finalist

The organization is one of six nonprofits across the United States to earn the honor. 

Meritus is pleased to announce it is a finalist in the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, one of only six nonprofits in the nation to receive such an honor.

“It is the teamwork and dedication of our team members in caring for our patients that led to this most prestigious recognition,” said Maulik Joshi, president and CEO of Meritus Health. “Every day, our team lives our mission of improving the health of our community by providing expert care, close to home. I am so proud to call them colleagues.”

Named for the former U.S. Secretary of Commerce, the Baldrige award was created by Congress to evaluate organizations based on criteria such as leadership, strategy, customers, measurement, workforce, operations and results. Award winners become role models to other organizations in the country, but to even be considered is a significant achievement.

A team of examiners from the award program, administered by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, visited Meritus Medical Center and Meritus practices in September.

“We are proud of our outstanding work in quality and the measurable results we’ve delivered,” Joshi said. “Being named a finalist is based on our results. We appreciate being recognized for that and strive to keep delivering results that make a difference in the lives of our patients and community.”

As part of its review, the program also gave Meritus a best practices nomination for the healthcare organization’s innovative Food Farmacy program, which provides food as medicine to those in need based on their health conditions and socioeconomic circumstances.

Most recently, Meritus ranked second among Maryland hospitals for surgical care by HealthGrades, and was awarded an “A” Hospital Safety Grade for the sixth consecutive time by The Leapfrog Group.

To learn more about Meritus Health, please visit www.meritushealth.com/about.