KINGSPORT, Tenn. – The 2026 Excellence Awards on March 12 celebrated improvement projects that have significantly benefited patients, team members and the organization, shining a light on the great work of dozens of teams from across the system.
The awards banquet was held at MeadowView Conference Resort & Convention Center, with more than 600 team members participating. A panel of experts evaluated 87 of the 102 submitted projects, recognizing top performers for their measurable impact on quality, safety, efficiency and innovation.
“From bedside improvement to crisis response, excellence at Ballad Health is embedded in who we are,” said Dr. Amit Vashist, Ballad Health’s chief clinical officer. “These awards matter. Recognition builds belief. It reinforces that disciplined improvement changes culture.”
Check out our photo gallery at the bottom of this article; a more extensive gallery of photos is also available for viewing and downloading.
And the submission period for the 2027 Excellence Awards is now open!
Click here to open a submission for the 2027 awards.
Here’s a rundown of the highest-level 2026 awards.
Chairman’s Award
This is the highest level of recognition for an outstanding project, designated by the chairman and CEO, that has resulted in sustained positive outcomes impacting one or more of the Ballad Health Excellence Factors.
- In Our Reputation Era: 5-Star Teams, Real-Time Feedback and the Review-lution of Patient Care (Digital Performance Media and Consumer Engagement team) — A unified feedback system strengthened service recovery, improved ratings and expanded real-time insights into patient experience.
Level II Implementation Award
- Reducing Delays in ION Bronchoscopy: “A Team-Based Approach” (Bristol Regional Medical Center) — Standardizing imaging requirements and implementing a verification workflow prevented delays in receiving ION bronchoscopy, ensuring timely diagnosis and treatment for lung cancer patients.
Level III Impact Award
- HVMC Cath Lab Rhythm and Flow (Holston Valley Medical Center) — Optimizing Cath Lab scheduling improved workflow predictability, reduced late stays and ensured timely cardiovascular care.
Excellence Factor Awards
Service and Access
- Care without Boundaries: Setting the Standard of Care (Bristol Regional Medical Center surgical team) — Expanding after-hours minimally invasive surgery improved patient access, strengthened outcomes and positioned Bristol Regional as a national leader in acute care MIS.
People
- Who Ya Gonna Call? (Home Health) — A real-time quality review process for home-health documentation improved accuracy, strengthened clinical oversight and supported consistent, high-quality patient assessments.
Finance
- MSOT: From Missed Opportunities to Meaningful Care (Specialty Pharmacy) — Epic-based routing enabled in-house specialty fills, reducing prior-authorization burden, retaining prescription revenue, lowering costs and improving medication adherence visibility for providers.
Health of the Community
- I’m Still Standing – Continuing to Build Resiliency in Schools (Behavioral Health) — The Resilient Schools Project expanded the scope, reach and effectiveness of school-based behavioral health services with 18 active sites.
Clinical Outcomes (Quality & Safety)
- The Fast and The Furious: Stroke Edition (Johnson County Community Hospital) — Streamlining emergency department-to-radiology workflows enabled faster stroke imaging, surpassing benchmarks and improving time-sensitive stroke care.
Innovation
- From Static to Stellar with The LM Bunch: Elevating Labor Management Through Innovation and Integration (Labor Management) — Integrating dashboards and workflow tools improved data access, streamlined decision-making and strengthened collaboration in labor management.
Quality Excellence Award
This award recognized the project reflecting the most effective and sustainable new process or improvement, achieved by adhering to a systematic improvement or problem-solving approach
- Skin in the Game: Our Commitment to Pressure Injury Prevention (Center for Clinical Transformation) — This initiative strengthens collaboration between nursing and wound care by unifying practice standards and improving processes across the system to reduce hospital-acquired pressure injuries.
Champions of Excellence Award
Honoring individuals who actively lead and support quality improvement efforts across Ballad Health:
- Regina Barkley, nurse manager, Sycamore Shoals Hospital emergency department
- Dr. Seth Brown, CMO, Women/Children’s service line and Franklin Woods Community Hospital
- Alesha Fields, director, ambulatory quality improvement and TIC, Integrated Health Solutions Network
- Jordan Harrington, associate administrator, Holston Valley Medical Center
- Frank Ison, diagnostic imaging, Bristol Regional Medical Center
- Rachel Kuhn, corporate director, digital care business operations
- Dr. Evan Kulbacki, pathologist, Highlands Pathology Consultants
- Joshua Metcalf, corporate director, data and analytics
- Alison Palamara, manager, patient resource management, Sycamore Shoals Hospital
- Regina Robinson, system director for quality, performance improvement and regulatory affairs
Celebrating Excellence
“We want to congratulate all the teams and individuals recognized for their commitment to high-reliability healthcare, innovation and continuous improvement,” Dr. Vashist said. “These projects and individuals represent the very best of Ballad Health, ensuring better patient care, safety and operational efficiency for the future.”
