CHARLOTTE, N.C.—Carolinas HealthCare System of Charlotte, N.C., and American Medical Depot of Miramar, Fla., have been recognized by the Premier healthcare alliance for purchasing goods and services from diverse suppliers, and developing procurement strategies aligned with their communities.

Premier, a hospital-owned performance improvement alliance, honored both organizations on June 12 with the Diversity Award at its 2013 annual Breakthroughs Conference and Exhibition in San Antonio. The annual award recognizes a Premier member hospital or health system and a contracted supplier.

“These organizations have made great strides in creating and building on diversity programs that benefit their communities, business and the patients they serve,” said Durral R. Gilbert, Premier president of supply chain services. “We welcome collaboration with diverse suppliers and encourage hospitals to use innovative, high-quality, cost-effective products and services.”

The alliance member award identifies Premier member hospitals and health systems that have established active programs to evaluate and support contracted minority-, women-, veteran-owned, and small business enterprises available through the Premier portfolio. The award considers members that have programs to encourage the development of diverse suppliers in their own community. Of the more than 2,800 hospitals in the Premier alliance nationwide eligible for this award, Carolinas HealthCare System is the only health system to receive this distinction.

The supplier award for diversity recognizes Premier contracted suppliers that support efforts to increase purchases from diverse suppliers and provide economic development opportunities for communities throughout the U.S. Of the more than 1,000 suppliers contracted with Premier eligible for this award, American Medical Depot is the only organization to receive this distinction.

Premier recognized one additional hospital and supplier with honorable mentions for their programs to support supplier diversity: TriHealth Inc. of Cincinnati and Owens & Minor Inc. of Mechanicsville, Va. (recognized for the third year in a row).

“The increase in the number of diverse supplier contracts available for our members is a testament to the hard work, dedication, and executive level support of Premier’s supplier diversity initiative,” said Deborah A. Williams, senior director of supplier diversity. “Diverse suppliers provide not only competitive pricing, but are leaders in innovation, creativity and technology enhancements.”

About the Premier healthcare alliance

Premier is the nation’s largest performance improvement alliance of more than 2,800 U.S. hospitals and 95,000 other sites using the power of collaboration and technology to lead the transformation to coordinated, high-quality, cost-effective care. Owned by healthcare providers, Premier operates a leading purchasing network with more than $5 billion in annual savings. Premier also maintains clinical, financial and outcomes databases based on 1 in every 4 patient discharges. A world leader in measurably improving patient care, Premier has the largest performance improvement collaboratives in America, including one in partnership with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Premier also has an office in Washington. https://www.premierinc.com.