SSM Health Honored With Aim For Excellence Award
SSM Health in St. Louis was honored with the Missouri Hospital Association’s 2026 Aim For Excellence Award for quality improvement leading to better care for cardiac surgery patients. The award was presented Nov. 4 at MHA’s 104th Annual Convention in Kansas City, Missouri.
“SSM Health found balance between exceptional care, and the availability to access that care close to home, by centralizing cardiac surgical care within the SSM Health system,” said Jon D. Doolittle, MHA president and CEO. “By centering the most acute care at their academic center of excellence, while keeping chronic care management and surgical follow-up at community hospitals in the region, they created a win-win for patients and the health system while improving care overall.”
Beginning in 2022, SSM Health initiated a program to centralize cardiac surgical services through a single center of excellence (COE), with SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital serving as an academic destination hospital. The realignment offered opportunities to recruit and retain world-class surgical talent, align strategy and governance, and improve quality and volume, simultaneously. By 2025, the COE performed more than 800 total cardiac cases — a 400% growth rate — and validated the quality benefit of concentrated volume through better health outcomes, increased efficiency, reputation and growth. At the same time, patients received care management at community hospital and physician clinic locations close to home.
“This recognition is really about our SSM Health mission and the people who have been carrying it forward for generations,” said Jeremy Fotheringham, R.N., J.D., SSM Health Academic, St. Louis and Southern Illinois Regional President. “Our founding Sisters, and all who followed them, were never afraid to rethink how care was delivered when it meant better care for the patients and families they served. Their same pioneering spirit is behind our cardiac center of excellence. We brought together exceptional talent, technology and expertise in a way that has significantly improved outcomes and expanded for the patients we serve. I hope our Sisters would be proud to see their legacy of innovation and service continuing in this way.”
Through its center of excellence model, SSM Health brings together the collective expertise of physicians, nurses and support staff to deliver exceptional, patient-centered cardiac care. By standardizing processes, reducing care variation and leveraging high-reliability principles, the program consistently achieves outstanding clinical outcomes while enhancing the patient experience. The collaborative approach also expands access to specialized care through a larger network of providers participating in on-call coverage and rotations, ensuring patients receive timely, high-quality care from multidisciplinary teams committed to excellence and safety.
Today, the program is outgrowing its infrastructure. Demand for cardiac surgery at the COE has surged, and referral volume continues to climb. The program is now evaluating additional capital investments and expanded surgical platforms to keep pace with growth. The COE is proof that when clinical excellence, operational discipline and patient-centered care come together, both quality and volume can grow in tandem.
A video honoring SSM Health is available here.
Photo caption: Stephen L. Reintjes Sr., M.D., president and CEO of NKC Health in North Kansas City, Mo., and 2026 MHA Board Chair (left), and Jon D. Doolittle, MHA President and CEO (right) present the 2026 Aim For Excellence Award to the SSM Health team.
The Missouri Hospital Association is a nonprofit association in Jefferson City that represents 138 Missouri hospitals. In addition to representation and advocacy on behalf of its membership, the association offers continuing education programs on current health care topics and seeks to educate the public about health care issues.