Greater Rochester Quality Council Announces 2026 Performance Excellence Award Recipients

 

October 21, 2026

​

ROCHESTER, NY (October 21, 2026) - The Greater Rochester Quality Council, a Greater Rochester Chamber affiliate, presented 30 Performance Excellence awards at a ceremony on October 20, 2026 at the Memorial Art Gallery. The GRQC Performance Excellence Award Program helps organizations in all sectors of the economy gain valuable insights into strategic areas of their operations, connect with like-minded leaders in high-performing organizations, and earn formal recognition for achieving excellence through continuous improvement methodologies. Performance Excellence Awards are presented in three categories: Team Excellence, Organizational Excellence, and Customer Experience.

 

The 2026 Customer Experience Award recipients are:

• Gorbel, Cleveland Tramrail® Triage Improvement, Bronze Award

• Rochester Regional Health, Reducing Alert Fatigue through Data-Driven CDS Governance, Silver Award

• Rochester Regional Health, Building Trust at the Bedside: Improving Patient Experience through a Simulation-Based Education Program, Gold Award

• Rochester Regional Health, Rehumanizing Doctor Visits and Returning to the Joy of Medicine through Ambient Digital Scribes, Gold Award

• Flight Wine Bar, Continuing Customer Excellence while Giving Back to the Community, George K. Hansen Platinum Award

• UR Medicine Strong Memorial Hospital, Improving the Patient and Family Experience During C-Section Delivery, George K. Hansen Platinum Award

 

The 2026 Organizational Excellence Award Recipient is:

• Pardi Partnership Architects, Excellence in Practice: Design, Partnership and Continuous Improvement, Silver Award

 

The 2026 Team Excellence Award recipients are:

• UR Medicine Strong Memorial Hospital, On the Move: Improving Mobility and Reducing Length of Stay on a Medical Surgical Unit, Pathfinder Award

• Rochester Regional Health, Just Culture: Building Psychological Safety through a Values-Centric Model of Workforce Justice, Bronze Award

• Gorbel, Change Order Process Improvement, Silver Award

• Villa of Hope, Reducing Overtime and Organizational Stress through a Centralized Per Diem Model, Silver Award

• Rochester Regional Health, Rapid Response Team: Advancing Patient Safety Through Early Intervention, Silver Award

• Hillside, Alignment of the Financial and Utilization Reports, Silver Award

• Rochester Regional Health, The Evolution of Huddling Together: Communication of Medication Safety, Silver Award

• United Way, Streamlining Printing and Mailing Operations through Process Improvement, Silver Award

• UR Medicine Thompson Health, Antimicrobial Stewardship–Driven Length of Stay Optimization for Complex Infections, Gold Award

• Rochester Regional Health, The Digital Front Door: Transforming How Patients Enter Primary Care, Gold Award

• UR Medicine Noyes Health, Transforming Pharmacy Practice through 24/7 Central Order Verification and Expanded Clinical Roles, Gold Award

• UR Medicine, Improving First Case On-Time Starts through an Interdisciplinary Team Approach, Gold Award

• Rochester Regional Health, Driving Excellence in Sepsis Bundle Compliance, Gold Award

• Rochester Regional Health, Acute Skin Failure, Gold Award

• UR Medicine Finger Lakes Health, Program Development for Malnutrition, Gold Award

• Rochester Regional Health, Enhanced Patient Decolonization to Reduce MRSA Bacteremia Incidence, Gold Award

• UR Medicine Noyes Health, Regional Clinical Mesh: Load Balancing to Optimize Capacity and Deliver High-Acuity Care Closer to Home, George K. Hansen Platinum Award

• UR Medicine Jones Memorial Hospital, Improving Patient and Staff Safety through Just Culture, Event Reporting, and Data-Driven Quality, George K. Hansen Platinum Award

• UR Medicine Golisano Children's Hospital, Reducing Delays for Pediatric Dental Surgical Patients with Complex Behavioral and Developmental Needs, George K. Hansen Platinum Award

• CooperVision, Global Review: Continuous Improvement for Inventory Management, George K. Hansen Platinum Award

• Rochester Regional Health, High Risk Rounds: Focused Resources for Patients at High Risk of Infection, George K. Hansen Platinum Award

• UR Medicine Home Healthcare, Hospice Journey, George K. Hansen Platinum Award

• UR Medicine Highland Hospital, Orthopaedic Surgical Site Infection Reduction, George K. Hansen Platinum Award

 

GRQC Co-Chairs Kristin Dobranski of Rochester Regional Health and Kenny Wezelis of ESL Federal Credit Union celebrated the award recipients as leaders in performance excellence whose accomplishments inspire organizations across the region. Their dedication advances GRQC's mission to elevate Greater Rochester's reputation as a nationally recognized showplace for performance excellence. “GRQC is a beacon to local organizations seeking to be the best versions of themselves,” said Mark Gruba, who served as the emcee for the event.

​

A GRQC review team evaluates each application using an abbreviated version of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award scoring guidelines.

 

Congratulations to this year's winners!

​

Greater Rochester Quality Council events, programs and initiatives are supported in part by the Greater Rochester Chamber Foundation.

​

​