Northwest, St. Francis celebrate quality awards

mqa reception medium

St. Francis Hospital and Health Services President Gray Cox, left,
and Dr. Dean L. Hubbard, president of Northwest Missouri State
University, shake hands Monday, Nov. 24, during a reception at
The Station on the Northwest campus held in celebration of both
institutions receiving 2008 Missouri Quality Awards.

Representatives from Northwest, St. Francis Hospital and Health Services, the office of Gov. Matt Blunt, the Excellence in Missouri Foundation and the city of Maryville attended a Missouri Quality Award reception Monday afternoon (Nov. 24) at The Station on the Northwest campus.

Both Northwest, a four-time winner, and St. Francis, a three-time winner, received 2008 Missouri Quality Awards, which the foundation presents annually to businesses and institutions that demonstrate excellence in continuously improving essential processes that govern management and operations.

St. Francis Hospital and Health Services President Gray Cox and Northwest President Dean L. Hubbard each delivered brief remarks. Other dignitaries in attendance included state Rep. Mike Thomson of Maryville; Jim Williamson, acting president of the Excellence in Missouri Foundation; Brent Kahler Jr., assistant to Gov. Blunt; and Maryville Mayor Chad Jackson.

Hubbard said Northwest’s longstanding policy of putting the needs of students first is the most important reason for the success of the University’s internationally recognized Culture of Quality initiative.

“There are distinguishing features that people in the marketplace think of when you mention Northwest,” said Hubbard, citing the University’s cost-saving textbook rental system and its creation of the Electronic Campus in the late 1980s, a program that now provides laptop computers to all full-time students. “However, the reason students come here is not because we have slicker brochures or a niftier Web site, but because those students tell their friends that Northwest is the place to go. That’s the Culture of Quality.”

Hubbard added that Northwest was “particularly honored” to win the award in the same year as St. Francis and praised the hospital as “a great partner in the community.”

Founded as a cooperative business, academic, labor, government and health care initiative, the Missouri Quality Award promotes quality awareness both statewide and nationally. Both Northwest and St. Francis submitted lengthy applications to the Excellence in Missouri Foundation, which led to site visits this fall. Teams of examiners spent several days at both institutions reviewing data and verifying continuous improvement.

Other 2008 MQA winners include the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and MidwayUSA of Columbia, a privately-held retailer and wholesaler of shooting and hunting products.

For more information, please contact:

Anthony Brown,
News Bureau Manager
E-Mail: abrown@nwmissouri.edu
Phone: 660.562.1704
Fax: 660.562.1900

Northwest Missouri State University
219 Administration Building,
800 University Drive
Maryville, MO 64468

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