Quality and Patient Safety Awards

The WHA Excellence in Health Care Quality and Patient Safety Award honors hospitals committed to advancing health care through continuous improvement, innovation and exceptional quality performance, with a focus on enhancing patient outcomes and safety.

2026 Excellence in Healthcare Quality & Patient Safety Award Winners

Reedsburg Area Medical Center

Reedsburg Area Medical Center won for Improving Patient Safety: Through Reduction of Blood Culture Contamination (Critical Access Hospital 1-25 Bed Category)

Aspirus Stevens Point Hospital

Aspirus Stevens Point Hospital won for Early Identification of C. difficile: Improving Safety Through Screening (General Medical Surgical Hospital 26-99 Bed Category)

Children’s Wisconsin

Children’s Wisconsin won for Lock it Up: A Collaborative Approach to Safe Gun and Medication Storage (General Medical Surgical Hospital 100+ Bed Category)

Emplify Health by Bellin Behavioral Health

Emplify Health by Bellin Behavioral Health won for Patient Safety and Restrictive Measures (Specialty Hospital Category)

Honorable Mentions

WHA would also like to recognize nominations that received honorable mention. The 2025 Excellence in Healthcare Quality & Patient Safety Award honorable mentions are:

Critical Access Hospital 1-25 bed size category:

• River Falls Area Hospital for Breaking the Chain: A Multi-layered Defense Against Hospital-Acquired C.difficile
• Marshfield Medical Center for - Park Falls for Optimizing Swing Beds to Reduce Readmissions

General Medical Surgical 26-99 bed size category:

• Mile Bluff Medical Center for Path to Safe Sleep
• SSM Health Monroe Hospital for Post-birth Alert Bands

General Medical Surgical 100+ bed size category:

• SSM Health St. Agnes for Daily Tiered Escalation Huddle Improvement
• SSM Health St. Mary’s for Safety Behaviors in Action: Every Voice Matters

Congratulations to all the 2026 WHA Quality Award recipients, honorable mentions and nominees.

2025 Excellence in Healthcare Quality & Patient Safety Award Winners

HealthPartners Collaboration-Amery Hospital & Clinic, Hudson Hospital & Clinic and Westfields Hospital & Clinic 

HealthPartners Collaboration-Amery Hospital & Clinic, Hudson Hospital & Clinic and Westfields Hospital & Clinic won for Swing Bed Optimization (Critical Access Hospital 1-25 Bed Category)

Aspirus Stevens Point Hospital

Aspirus Stevens Point Hospital won for Improving Mortality Index (General Medical Surgical Hospital (26-99 Bed Category)

Aurora Medical Center - Summit

Aurora Medical Center - Summit won for Age-Friendly 4Ms Implementation – Improving Care and Patient Experience for Older Adults (General Medical Surgical Hospital 100+ Bed Category)

UW Health Rehabilitation Hospital 

UW Health Rehabilitation Hospital won for Neurological Physical Therapy Program (Specialty Hospital Category)

The application process will open again in November 2026.