Learn more about:

• Governor's Sterling Award
• Magnet Designation
• Other Honors

Governor's Sterling Award

Shands HealthCare won the 2008 Governor's Sterling Award – the state's top honor for performance excellence. Shands is the largest organization ever to receive this prestigious award since its introduction in 1993. Few healthcare systems have been recognized this way for quality, outcomes and organizational excellence.

Shands HealthCare showed strong results across all facilities for 80 percent of reported data, consistently performing in the top 25 percent in key healthcare industry measures, with some approaching the top 10 percent, or benchmark levels.

Issued by the Florida Sterling Council, the Governor's Sterling Award is based on the National Malcolm Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence.

ANCC Magnet Designation

Several Shands hospitals and programs have “Magnet” designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center: Shands at UF, Shands Jacksonville, Shands HomeCare, Shands Florida Surgical Center, Shands Vista, Shands Rehab Hospital and Shands at UF Dialysis Center.

The nursing profession's most prestigious honor, “Magnet” status is achieved by less than one percent of the nation's acute-care hospitals. Shands is pursuing this honor for all our hospitals.

Other Honors

Our numerous recognitions and rankings place Shands HealthCare among the nation's top healthcare organizations.

Awards received for community support/service by Shands HealthCare include, but are not limited to:

• LifeQuest, Shands Organ Recovery Service, received the silver Medal of Honor for Organ Donation from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Health Resource and Services Administration (HRSA). (2010)
• Shands at UF consistently earns top-50 rankings in the annual listing of America’s Best Hospitals, published by U.S. News & World Report. For the first time in 2010-11, the pediatric endocrinology program at Shands Children’s Hospital at UF was ranked among the nation’s top programs in the annual listing of Best Children’s Hospitals, also published by of U.S. News & World Report. This pediatric endocrinology recognition was the top ranking among all Florida hospitals included in the report. (2010)
• Shands at the University of Florida and Shands Jacksonville designated as a Comprehensive Stroke Centers by the Agency for Health Care Administration; and certified as a Primary Stroke Centers with the Gold Seal of Approval™ by The Joint Commission; they both received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold (Shands Jacksonville Gold Plus) Performance Achievement Awards. (2009)
  
• Shands at the University of Florida was named one of the nation's top performance-improvement leaders by Thomson Reuters, a provider of information and tools for clinical- and business-performance improvement in the healthcare industry.
• #1 Consumer Choice (2006-07 and 2007-08, given by Healthcare Market Guide)
• “Order of the Battered Boot” (2006, 2007 & 2008) – awarded to the #1 Fundraising Team in WalkAmerica – by March of Dimes
• Organ Donation Medal of Honor (2005-2007)
• “Spirit of the Community Award” (2006) – awarded to the company who ran the most successful United Way Campaign
• Florida Nurses Association 2011 Frances Smith Award for Promotion of Clinical Excellence in the Workplace
  - Florida Nurses Association has awarded Shands at the University of Florida Nursing, including Shands Vista and Shands Rehab Hospital Nursing, with the 2011 Frances Smith Award for Promotion of Clinical Excellence in the Workplace from the Florida Nurses Association. Shands at UF Nursing received this award for supporting clinical excellence and fostering an environment that encourages participation in conferences, recognition events, education and mentor programs.
  

Shands has received awards and honors from many organizations, including the following:

• Hippodrome State Theatre
• Gainesville Community Orchestra
• Chamber of Commerce
• PKD Foundation
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission
• Proton Beam Golf Tournament
• Dance Alive
• American Heart Association
• Haven Hospice
• Alachua County Medical Society – We Care Program
• American Cancer Society
• Stop! Children's Cancer
• March of Dimes
• United Way
• Ronald McDonald House
• Angel Flight Southeast
• Junior Achievement

About Shands Navigation

About Shands HealthCare

• Hospitals and Services
• Mission, Vision & Values
• Quick Facts & Data
• Community Support & Social Mission
• Financial Reporting
• System Leaders
• History & Shands Firsts

Shands Commitment to Excellence

• The BEST Program
• Pillars of Excellence
• BEST Behaviors
• Governor's Sterling Award, Magnet Designation & Other Honors
• Quality & Patient Safety

Congratulations to Shands at the University of Florida for earning top-50 rankings in 7 specialties in the 2011-2012 edition of America’s Best Hospitals, published by U.S.News & World Report.

Learn more.