October 21, 2025

GRQC Announces 2025 Performance Excellence Award Recipients

ROCHESTER, NY (October 21, 2025) - The Greater Rochester Quality Council, a Greater Rochester Chamber affiliate, presented 22 Performance Excellence awards at a ceremony on October 21, 2025 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 2025 Customer Experience Award recipients are:

• Villa of Hope, From Barriers to Bridges: Enhancing Client Access and Continuity, Pathfinder Award

• RRH Rochester General Hospital, Implementing Music Therapy for Oncology/Palliative Care Patients, Silver Award

• Flight Wine Bar, Continuing Customer Excellence, Gold Award

• Lifetime Benefit Solutions, COBRA and Premium Billing IVR Payment Automation, Gold Award

The 2025 Team Excellence Award recipients are:

• Rochester Regional Health, Daily Patient Check Pilot, Bronze Award

• Rochester Regional Health, Inpatient Rehabilitation Admissions Process Improvements, Bronze Award

• RRH Rochester General Hospital, Streamlining Preoperative Flow: A CUSP Initiative to Improve Patient Throughput, Bronze Award

• UR Medicine Flaum Eye Institute, Screening for Food Insecurity: A Health Equity Quality Improvement Fellowship Project, Bronze Award

• Rochester Regional Health, Excellence in PSI and HAC Reduction: A Model for Safer Care, Silver Award

• Rochester Regional Health, Pursuit of Outstanding Quality Outcomes in Home Health Care, Silver Award

• Rochester Regional Health, Readmission Reduction in Home Care Patients with Joint Replacement, Silver Award

• RRH United Memorial Medical Center, A Rural Hospital's Journey to Improving Length of Stay, Silver Award

• UR Medicine Wilmot Cancer Center, Integration of the Chemotherapy Consent into Electronic Health Record, Silver Award

• Gorbel, Continuous Improvement Idea System, Gold Award

• Gorbel, Supply Chain for Real Results, Gold Award

• Rochester Regional Health, Embracing Tomorrow Today via Virtual Care Delivery Redesign, Gold Award

• Rochester Regional Health, Pharmacy Team’s Journey through Continuous Improvement, Gold Award

• Rochester Regional Health, Complex Case and Behavior Management Initiative, Gold Award

• UR Medicine Highland Hospital, Improving Emergency Department Flow by Reducing Boarding, Gold Award

• UR Medicine Wilmot Cancer Center, Timely Care is Teamwork: A Quality Improvement Initiative for Post-Surgical Radiation Delivery, Gold Award

• UR Medicine, Backstop Radiology Recommendation Tracking Program: Every patient deserves their best chance for a cure, George K. Hansen Platinum Award

• UR Medicine Golisano Children’s Hospital, Improving Asthma Care, George K. Hansen Platinum Award

GRQC Co-chairs Kristin Dobranski of Rochester Regional Health and Kenny Wezelis of ESL Federal Credit Union praised the winners as emblematic of GRQC’s vision: to see the Greater Rochester community 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 a simplified version of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award scoring guidelines.