2019 Award Recipient

Baldrige Performance Excellence Program • National Institute of Standards and Technology • Department of Commerce 

Highlights

• MGMC’s health care results are in the CMS top decile, 

including 30-day readmissions, 30-day mortality for 

heart attack patients, incidence of preventable blood clots, 

compliance with sepsis practices, influenza vaccinations, 

stroke bundle compliance, and outpatient 

imaging measures.

• Inpatient satisfaction, as measured by HCAHPS, has been

at or above top-decile performance since 2016.

• More than 75% of inpatients and outpatients would 

recommend MGMC to others, representing top-decile or 

near-top-decile levels.

• In market share, MGMC has been the dominant leader 

in its primary market overall and for inpatient (43%) and 

outpatient (48%) care since 2015, in spite of being 

one quarter to one third the size of two of its 

closest competitors.

 

Mary Greeley Medical Center

Opened in 1916 and now the largest independent medical center in 

its primary and secondary markets, Mary Greeley Medical Center 

(MGMC) is a public, nonprofit, 220-bed hospital offering inpatient, 

outpatient, emergency department, home health care, and hospice 

services. The hospital, which was gifted to the city of Ames by 

a Union Army officer in the Civil War in memory of his beloved 

wife, provides health care to the residents of a 14-county area in 

central Iowa. Inpatient and outpatient services support a continuum 

of care for patients, including surgery, cancer care, cardiac care, 

diabetes and nutrition care, orthopedics, obstetrics and gynecology, 

gastroenterology, mental health services, palliative care, home 

health care, hospice care, rehabilitation, and more.

Health Care Processes with Results

• In many areas, MGMC’s health care results are in the Centers for 

Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) top decile, including 

30-day readmissions, 30-day mortality for heart attack patients, 

incidence of preventable blood clots, compliance with sepsis 

practices, influenza vaccinations, stroke bundle compliance, and 

outpatient imaging measures. 

• MGMC’s results rank at or near the CMS, “Get with the Guidelines” 

(an American Hospital Association initiative), and National 

Database of Nursing Quality Indicators benchmarks. These 

include results for admission process effectiveness, inpatient 

rounding, home health timely initiation of care, home health fall 

risk assessment completed, and hospice diagnosis and treatment 

process effectiveness.

• By intentional design, those closest to the work are integrally 

involved in improvement efforts, from daily improvements of 

individual work to more formal rapid improvement events, and a 

vast majority of projects are focused on patient care or patient 

safety. In addition, standard work documents for patient care 

processes and daily huddles stress operations issues, process 

improvement, and current performance.

Patient Process with Results

• Inpatient satisfaction, as measured by the Hospital Consumer 

Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS), 

has been at or above top-decile performance since 2016. 

These sustained, benchmark levels of patient satisfaction in all 

domains (communication, responsiveness, environment, discharge 

information, and transitions of care) show MGMC’s success in 

sharing and emphasizing its “Big Dot” goal of patient engagement. 

• More than 75% of inpatients and outpatients would recommend 

MGMC to others, representing top-decile or near-top-decile levels. 

In addition, MGMC outperforms local competitors in top-of-mind 

hospital recall, preferred hospital, and brand power index. 
2019 Award Recipient

Mary Greeley Medical Center 

• MGMC outperforms its local competitors and receives scores close 

to the top decile in inpatient satisfaction, satisfaction with home 

health care, and satisfaction with hospice care as measured by the 

National Research Corporation (NRC).

• To serve patients, the entire workforce rallies around the tag line 

“Doing What’s Right.” Following the result of an employee suggestion, 

MGMC provides patient-centered scheduling: patients are scheduled

for needed procedures on an aligned, coordinated schedule, where 

all necessary procedures and tests are done in a sequence instead 

of the patient needing to wait for each procedure/test and specialist 

in turn. This improvement was recognized with an award for 

patient-centered innovation by the Iowa HealthCare Collaborative.

Senior Leadership

• As part of the organization’s culture, leaders continually reinforce 

MGMC’s tag line, “Doing What’s Right.” Reinforcement takes place 

through the Patient and Family Advisory Council, where patients 

and families share their views of “what’s right” and learn about and 

contribute to important changes; in leaders’ visits to patients on 

care units and to employees in their work environments; through 

leaders’ participation in improvement events; via the Employee 

Advisory Committee; and through CEO breakfasts. 

• MGMC’s leaders set the vision (“to be the best”) and values (PRIDE: 

“People, Respectful, Innovative, Dedicated, Effective”) and ensure 

that they reflect the requirements of patients and their families. 

Leaders personally and regularly share the vision and values with 

the workforce, medical staff, and key suppliers and partners.

Financial Results

• In market share, MGMC has been the dominant leader in its 

primary market overall and for inpatient (43%) and outpatient 

(48%) care since 2015, in spite of being one quarter to one third the 

size of two of its closest competitors. 

• MGMC’s days-cash-on-hand, at more than 650, is three times 

the Moody’s A2 peer-group level and has increased over five 

years. MGMC’s debt-to-capitalization ratio stands at 0.250, and its 

operating margin of 4% exceeds the Moody’s A2 peer-group level. 

• MGMC has sustained Medicare spending per beneficiary at or close 

to the CMS top decile for four years; cost per adjusted admission has 

improved over three years and is consistently below budget. Salary 

and benefit expenses as a percent of net revenue have remained 

stable over six years in spite of a tight labor market. 

People Process with Results

• Close to the NRC top decile, 75% of employees agree that they 

“talk up” the organization as a great place to work, with similar 

results for patient care and support services staff. Physician 

engagement ranks in the 86th percentile. 

• In a tight labor market, MGMC’s average tenure of staff—

at approximately 10 years—ranks in the American Society for 

Healthcare Human Resources Administration’s top decile, as does 

the average time to fill vacancies.

• About 75% of employees agree that their managers create 

opportunities for growth, and the number of employees participating 

in the Rewards for Employee Achievement Program quadrupled 

over eight years. In addition, 60% of employees report having 

participated in an improvement project. 

Strategic Planning

• The organization’s mission, vision, and values are the foundation 

of MGMC’s strategic planning process. The process drives MGMC’s 

strategic objectives, establishing long- and short-term performance 

goals and systematically cascading goals throughout the organization.

• Strategic goals are highlighted in each department and unit on 

huddle boards, and each member of the workforce carries a card 

outlining aligned personal goals. Employees can routinely speak

to their own contributions to one or more of these goals and the 

associated measures.

Citizenship with Results

• MGMC meets community needs by underwriting the addition 

of behavioral health beds and providers; collaborating with key 

community members to apply successfully for a grant to open a 

Federally Qualified Healthcare Center; and collaborating with the 

City of Ames to provide public health services. 

• Community financial support through the Mary Greeley Foundation 

stands at nearly $1.5 million in 2019, an increase of one third since 

2014. In addition, MGMC’s scores on the local consumer 

perception survey of hospital preference are more than quadruple 

those of its competitors over five years.

For more information:

Mary Greeley Medical Center

1111 Duff Avenue

Ames, IA 50010

www.mgmc.org

Baldrige Performance Excellence Program

The Baldrige Program educates organizations of all sizes and 

from all sectors in organizational performance management and 

improvement. We also administer the Malcolm Baldrige National

Quality Award. Our key services are to identify and recognize 

role-model organizations, share best management practices, 

and help organizations achieve best-in-class performance levels.

We are the only public-private partnership and Presidential award 

program dedicated to improving U.S. organizations. 

For more information on the Baldrige Program: 

www.nist.gov/baldrige | 301-975-2036 | baldrige@nist.gov

Baldrige Performance Excellence Program • National Institute of Standards and Technology • Department of Commerce