Patient Safety Leadership Award

The Patient Safety Leadership Award recognizes an individual who has taken extraordinary and innovative steps to make patient safety and quality a top priority in their organization. It honors superior efforts in preventing adverse health events and measures improvement through the hospital’s participation in the Tennessee Center for Patient Safety collaboratives. Nominees must be employed by a THA member institution for a minimum of four years (does not need to be at the same institution).

Nomination Materials:

  • A detailed narrative (2 to 5 pages) describing why this individual deserves recognition, including:
    • A description of specific quality and patient safety activities and projects this individual has led, implementation strategies used, and outcomes achieved.
    • Data and graphs demonstrating improvements are encouraged and do not count against the narrative page limit.
    • Quality and patient safety activities may include activities with the Tennessee Center for Patient Safety, organizational culture changes to support safety, and other contributions to the healthcare industry, the individual’s employer, the association, professional organizations, and community.
  • A current curriculum vitae or narrative biography of the nominee.
  • Two to three letters supporting the nomination. Letters must be signed and may be scanned if electronic signatures are not available.
  • A high-resolution JPEG or PNG photograph of the nominee suitable for publication. Photos will not be shared with the review committee.

Award Submission Instructions

  1. Log in to your MyTHA account. Most members already have an account. If you have not previously logged in, select “I forgot my password.” If you are not in the system, you may create a new account.
  2. Navigate to the Awards page.
  3. Select the appropriate award category.
  4. Complete all required form fields.
    • The form may be completed by the official nominator or by another individual on the nominator’s behalf.
    • Award nomination materials, excluding the photo, must be combined and uploaded as a single PDF.
    • The nominee photo must be uploaded separately.
  5. Upon submission, the CEO of the nominating hospital will automatically be notified and prompted to provide approval through MyTHA. A nomination is not considered final until CEO approval is completed.
  6. After submission, nominators may view the status of their nominations in MyTHA under My Award Nominations.

Nominations are closed for the 2026 Awards of Excellence.

2025 Award Recipient Spotlight

2024

Eileen Shrum
Erlanger, Chattanooga
View Video

2023

Jennifer Radtke
|UT Medical Center, Knoxville
View Video

2022

Petra Green
CHI Memorial, Chattanooga
View Video

2021

Gail Fraine
Ascension Saint Thomas, Nashville
View Video

2020

William Beauchamp
NorthCrest Medical Center, Springfield
View Video

2019

Tammy VanDyk
East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, Knoxville

2018

Trish Tanner
Ballad Health, Johnson City

2017

Pamela Myers
East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, Knoxville

2016

Jeanann Pardue, M.D.
East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, Knoxville

Melissa Roden
CHI Memorial Hospital, Chattanooga

Marilyn (Buffy) Key
Cookeville Regional Medical Center, Cookeville

2015

Jenny Slayton
Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville

Christopher Edwards, M.D.
Maury Regional Medical Center, Columbia

Ginger Dickens
Maury Regional Medical Center, Columbia

Lynnelle Murrell
Maury Regional Medical Center, Columbia

2014

George Testerman, M.D.
Wellmont Holston Valley Medical Center, Kingsport

2013

David Roberts
West Tennessee Healthcare, Jackson