Healthcare nonprofit wins Baldridge award.

SSM Health Care took four attempts, but the nonprofit healthcare group with Catholic roots finally wrested a prestigious award from the hands of scrupulous examiners.

St. Louis, Mo.-based SSM Health Care is the first healthcare winner in the history of the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award, and one of three winners this year.

The U.S. Department of Commerce administers the award, established in 1987, and the President of the United States bestows the prize to groups in manufacturing, service, small business, education and healthcare categories.

It's named after the former Secretary of Commerce, who championed quality management until his rodeo accident death in July, 1987, according to the Commerce Department.

Some 42 healthcare organizations have applied for the performance excellence award since the education/healthcare category was added in 1999. Other nonprofits have won the award, but not in this category.

SSM Health Care, which operates in four states and employs some 23,000 people, gained the nod over 16 other healthcare groups vying for the award this year.

Winners receive a crystal obelisk award worth about $10,000.

But the award is more than just some extra glassware in a lighted podium, its rigorous review process and feedback propels organizations toward higher goals.

For example, the process spurred SSM Health Care to pilot a program at St. Joseph Health Center in St. Charles, Mo. that guarantees emergency room patients a doctor visit within 30 minutes of arrival, said Paula Friedman, senior consultant for systems improvement at SSM. At least 90 percent of patients are seen in that time, she said.

Independent examiners conducting an on-site visit interview everyone from janitors to the chief executive. The examiners spend at least 300 hours reviewing applications, and groups making it to the final stage receive some 1,000 hours of in-depth review, said Jan Kosko, a spokeswoman at the U.S. Department of Commerce Department. Organizations that don't win value the examiners' report that outlines strengths and improvement areas.

SSM now owns, manages or is affiliated with 21 acute care hospitals and three nursing homes, SSM Health Care President and CEO Mary Jean Ryan said in a statement. It had a 2001 operating revenue of $1.7 billion, according to its financial audit.