Valued Voice

On February 4, 2026, WHA hosted the third annual award recognition dinner in Madison honoring outstanding achievements of four Wisconsin hospitals.

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. Award recipients were selected by a council of health care quality experts who evaluated the innovative and impactful quality projects and selected top performers in four categories.

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)

We would also like to congratulate several additional hospitals that were acknowledged with Honorable Mention awards:

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

Attend the Health Care Quality Showcase

To talk to these hospitals more about their project, attend the Health Care Quality Showcase after Advocacy Day on February 25^th in the state capitol rotunda.

If you are interested and would like to participate at the WHA Health Care Quality Showcase, please complete and submit this form. See the full list of hospitals already registered to participate.