Leadership Awards

NCHL recognizes leaders across the spectrum of healthcare via its leadership award programs.

2021 Gail L. Warden Leadership Excellence Award Recipient

Maureen Bisognano, President Emerita and Senior Fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), has been named the 2021 Gail L. Warden Leadership Excellence Award recipient.

Ms. Bisognano previously served as IHI’s President and CEO for five years, after serving as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for 15 years. IHI ​has used improvement science to advance and sustain better outcomes in health and healthcare across the world for more than 30 years. She is a prominent authority on improving healthcare systems, whose expertise has been recognized by her elected membership to the National Academy of Medicine (IOM), among other distinctions.

“Ms. Bisognano is a selfless leader who has encouraged and inspired countless number of healthcare leaders through her leadership and work in the area of quality and patient safety.” LeAnn Swanson, NCHL CEO said. “She has changed the quality journey as we know it for healthcare organizations in the US and abroad. Ms. Bisognano epitomizes the very essence of this award as demonstrated through her commitment to advancing patient-centered care, influencing the development of women in healthcare leadership, and transforming the patient safety movement across the world. She is most deserving of NCHL’s highest honor and I am thrilled she has been selected as this year’s recipient.”

Ms. Bisognano advises healthcare leaders around the world, is a frequent speaker at major healthcare conferences on quality improvement and is a tireless advocate for change. She is also an Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, a Research Associate in the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Division of Social Medicine and Health Inequalities.  Additionally, she chairs the Advisory Board of the Well Being Trust, co-chairs the Massachusetts Coalition for Serious Illness Care with Dr. Atul Gawande, and serves on the boards of the Commonwealth Fund, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Indiana University Health and Nursing Now.

Prior to joining IHI, Ms. Bisognano was Senior Vice President of The Juran Institute, where she consulted with senior management on the implementation of total quality management in healthcare settings. Before that, she served as CEO of the Massachusetts Respiratory Hospital in Braintree, MA, where she participated in the National Demonstration Project, the precursor to IHI.

Ms. Bisognano will be honored at NCHL’s 2021 Gail L. Warden Leadership Excellence Award Celebration, which will be held in Chicago on Tuesday, November 16, as part of NCHL’s Organizational and Leadership Excellence Conference held November 15-17.  Over the years, the conference and celebration have been one of healthcare’s most important events, attracting luminaries and notable leaders from prominent health sector, academic, and research organizations.

Gail L. Warden

Gail L. Warden Leadership Excellence Award

On an annual basis, the National Center for Healthcare Leadership accepts nominations for the Gail L. Warden Leadership Excellence Award. The Award honors a healthcare leader whose commitment, values, and contributions have improved the health of the public through leadership and organizational excellence. The Leadership Award is given to an individual who has made significant and lasting leadership contributions to the health and healthcare field. Nominees can represent any sector, including healthcare delivery, community health, public health, insurance, suppliers, public policy, government, professional/trade associations, research, and academic institutions. Nominees for the Award must be actively engaged in the field and have broad national influence. Self-nominations are not eligible.

The recipient of the 2021 GAIL L. WARDEN LEADERSHIP EXCELLENCE AWARD will be honored at a celebration dinner during NCHL’s annual conference, November 15-17, 2021 in Chicago.

The nomination window of 2021 is now closed.

Read more about our previous award winners here.

2021 Gail L. Warden Leadership Award Selection Committee

• Chair: Jill Schwieters, JAS & Associates
• Nancy Howell Agee, Carilion Clinic
• David Ertel, Vizient, Inc.
• Rod Hochman, MD, Providence and 2019 Gail L. Warden Leadership Excellence Award
• Joe Moscola, Northwell Health
• Brian Peters, Michigan Health and Hospital Association
• Beverly Malone, PhD, National League for Nursing, 2020 Gail L. Warden Leadership Excellence Award
• Carrie Harris-Muller, Ohio Health
• Ann Hines, Sodexo
• Tom Priselac, Cedars Sinai

Best Organizations for Leadership Development

Every two years, a team of researchers update the National Leadership Survey based on the state-of-the-science in leadership development. By completing the survey, participating organizations are able to be compare their approaches to leadership develop to evidence-based practice as well as other health systems using the customized scorecard generated from survey responses.

Organizations that have exemplary approaches to leadership development are also eligible for high-profile recognition as a part of the Best Organizations for Leadership Development (BOLD) program. Since 2014, the biennial BOLD Award recognizes hospitals and health systems that are leading the field in preparing current and future generations of leaders needed to transform our health system. BOLD top-ranking and honorable mention organizations are recognized at NCHL’s Human Capital Investment Conference in November. The BOLD program will run again in 2022.

Contact Us to Learn More About BOLD