LAS VEGAS, May 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Premier Purchasing Partners, LP, the purchasing unit of Premier, Inc., has honored North Broward Hospital District with the first-ever Premier Diversity Recognition Award.
The Premier Diversity Recognition Award, bestowed at Premier's national conference in Las Vegas, NV, acknowledges North Broward's efforts to support the well-being of the local community. While many hospitals strive to include minority and women-owned businesses in their purchasing portfolios, North Broward Hospital District (NBHD) has progressed further than most by establishing a detailed process and infrastructure to evaluate and implement diversity contract options, including a community-based outreach program to engage local diversity suppliers.
The award identifies Premier member hospitals and health systems, which as part of their social responsibility initiatives, have established active programs to evaluate and support minority and women-owned contracted suppliers available through the Premier contract portfolio. Additionally, the award considers members that have established programs to encourage the development of diverse suppliers in their own community.
NBHD has developed a program that purchases over $34 million in all spending categories through women and minority-owned businesses, while at the same time capturing significant savings. Even more important is the effort to support these businesses through community outreach programs.
"Under the leadership of our Board of Commissioners, the District has had a long-standing commitment to diversity, not only with our vendors, but with our workforce as well. In fact, diversity is one of the District's core values with a stated goal that we will meet the needs of our culturally diverse workforce and community," said Wil Trower, President/CEO, North Broward Hospital District.
"I have had the pleasure of serving on the District's MWBE committee, where I have seen over the last several years, significant and continued improvement to our supplier diversity process," Trower said. "The District is proud to receive this award recognizing our achievement in supplier diversity."
"Premier is dedicated to supporting the health and well-being of the communities served by our member hospitals," said Susan DeVore, president, Premier Purchasing Partners, LP. "Premier's supplier diversity initiative was established over two years ago to support, encourage and facilitate procurement from diversity suppliers -- not only throughout the Premier enterprise, but more importantly, to better meet the needs of its members.
"From our members' perspective, working with minority, women and small businesses expands choice, and strengthens access to quality products," DeVore said. "But more importantly, members' commitment to support these organizations allows them to establish a leadership role in the communities they serve."
Five other Premier members received honorable mentions for their programs to support supplier diversity. These include:
-- Baptist Health South Florida, Coral Gables, FL -- Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI -- Methodist Healthcare, Memphis, TN -- SSM Health Care, St. Louis, MO -- Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
"All six of these Premier members are leaders in establishing industry- leading supplier diversity programs," said Gleatha Glispie, director of Premier's supplier diversity initiative. "Each of these organizations have recognized and embraced supplier diversity as an essential strategy for managing product costs and creating fair market conditions for all. Access to diversity suppliers expands choice and strengthens the availability of quality products."
Premier's supplier diversity initiative is one component of its broader effort to promote socially responsible purchasing. Recognizing that building healthy communities requires collaboration beyond healthcare, Premier and its members work together to build a sense of responsibility for the health and well-being of the communities they serve. These efforts also include:
-- Protecting the environment through the Environmentally Preferred
Purchasing program;
-- Ensuring the safety and well-being of patients and healthcare workers
through the efforts of the Premier Safety Institute; and
-- Assuring ethical purchasing practices through Premier's leading-edge
Business Conduct Guidelines.
About North Broward Hospital District
The North Broward Hospital District, providing service since 1938, is a nonprofit community health system offering a full spectrum of healthcare services. Facilities include four hospitals: Broward General Medical Center, North Broward Medical Center, Imperial Point Medical Center and Coral Springs Medical Center. The District is a medical safety net for Broward County residents. These four medical centers anchor District services which include primary healthcare centers, home health services and hospice, family health places, physician practices, specialty care services and extensive community services and programming. For more information, visit http://www.browardhealth.org/ .
About Premier, Inc.
Premier, Inc. is a strategic alliance in U.S. healthcare, entirely owned by 200 of the nation's leading hospital and healthcare systems. These systems operate or are affiliated with nearly 1,500 hospital facilities in 50 states and hundreds of other care sites. Premier provides an array of resources supporting health services delivery in the key areas of supply chain improvement and group purchasing, comparative data and benchmarking, and insurance. Premier is headquartered in San Diego, CA, with offices in Chicago, IL; and Charlotte, NC. Advocacy and policy offices are located in Washington, DC. For more information, visit http://www.premierinc.com/ .
Website: http://www.browardhealth.org http://www.premierinc.com
Premier, Inc.CONTACT: Peter Duckler of HLB Communications, +1-312-423-4930,pduckler@hlbcomm.com
