St. Francis Health Services Recognized for Achievement in Quality Morris, MN – February 5th, 2020 – St. Francis Health Services received the Award of Merit for Performance Excellence in Aging Services from LeadingAge Minnesota for its demonstrated commitment to quality and continuous improvement. “Quality improvement in long-term services and supports is a continuous process, bettering our best each day to provide exceptional care and services to older adults,” said Gayle Kvenvold, President and CEO, LeadingAge Minnesota. “We congratulate St. Francis Health Services for their demonstrated commitment to quality in all that they do. By completing this intensive program, St. Francis Health Services and their dedicated employees are working together as a collaborative team to deliver higher quality care and services to the older adults they serve.” Performance Excellence in Aging Services was created by LeadingAge Minnesota in 2017 to help aging services providers innovate and improve the quality services and supports they provide to older adults. The continuous learning and development program is centered on the core values and criteria of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, which focuses on seven areas of achievement and improvement: leadership, strategy, customers, measurement, workforce, operations and results. To achieve the Award of Merit, St. Francis Health Services completed an in-depth organizational self-assessment to identify, prioritize and address improvement opportunities in their organization. By completing this initial phase of the Performance Excellence in Aging Services program, St. Francis Health Services has demonstrated that they have effective systems in place that will enable them to better serve older adults, empower staff teams, and achieve and sustain quality efforts more efficiently and effectively. Carol Raw, CEO/President states “As the newly appointed CEO/President of St. Francis Health Services, I sought confirmation from an external source that the systems we had in place were truly aligned with our strategic goals; that the services we provide are a reflection of the needs of the communities we serve and that our leadership staff are engaged in the creation of, and accountable for, the strategic plan outcomes. I also felt the messaging of our mission and core values had lost its strength as the main cultural component. While we had many quality initiatives in place, ironically we had no corporate level quality review to identify as a team the cause of our problems, or a method to create and implement action plans to resolve problems and achieve objectives. Each of these areas have now been addressed and we are beginning our first year of accountable strategic planning using annual objectives and action plans to measure our progress. The Performance Excellence program provided us with the tools to methodically assess our organization and collaboratively reach an understanding of who St. Francis Health Services is overall, but specifically in the areas of leadership, strategy, customers, measurement & analysis, workforce, operations and results. We are excited to continue down the path of assessment, but more so in working together as an executive and operational leadership team, to take meaningful strides forward in our continuous quality improvement.” For more information, contact Cami Peterson-DeVries, VICE PRESIDENT of Corporate Compliance & Ethics and Leadership Development at 320.589.4922 or cpeterson-devries@sfhs.org. About Organization St. Francis Health Services of Morris, Inc. (St. Francis) was created in 1984 as a not-for-profit organization committed to providing quality services to people of all ages with physical, mental and intellectual disabilities. Our service focus is the rural areas of MN with populations under 20k although we own and operate care centers in Duluth MN and a campus in Farmington MN. St. Francis was formed specifically to strategically expand services to meet the complex and diverse needs of vulnerable aging adults and people of all ages with physical, mental and intellectual disabilities. St. Francis’ corporate office provides operating support and oversight for 13 SNFs, 10 Assisted Living, 2 Independent Living and 74 Community Based Residential Group Homes throughout the state of Minnesota. St. Francis’ services include skilled nursing care (subacute, long-term, and memory care), assisted living with home healthcare and memory care, a full range of therapies, and community and residential services to people with physical, mental, and intellectual disabilities. St. Francis provides care to 838 residents within our SNFs, 342 tenants within our Assisted Living properties, and 309 persons who receive residential group home services in communities throughout MN. About LeadingAge Minnesota Driven to transform and enhance the experience of aging, LeadingAge Minnesota works alongside its members, caregivers, advocates and consumers to collectively shape the future of aging services and ensure older adults in every community live with dignity, meaning and purpose. Together with more than 60,000 caregivers, LeadingAge Minnesota members provide services and support to nearly 70,000 older adults every day in independent senior housing, assisted living, adult day, home care and skilled nursing settings.