Following a five-year journey of continuous improvement in patient care and organizational performance, Riverside Health is proud to announce that Terry Sievers, MS, RN, Senior Vice President of Quality, has been selected as a 2025 Baldrige Executive Fellow. The prestigious national program, administered by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), brings together senior decision makers from across industries to collaborate, learn from one another, and study best practices in operational and strategic excellence.
Sievers’ selection reflects not only her outstanding leadership, but also Riverside’s system-wide transformation in safety, patient experience, and care quality. Over the past five years, Riverside has achieved:
- Marked improvement in hospital safety performance, specifically reduction of hospital associated infections by 74%
- Improved CMS Star Ratings, and Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades, indicating high performance in safety, quality, and patient satisfaction
- Significant gains in patient outcomes and system-wide patient experience
- A 97% success rate in capturing value-based care funds at risk, signaling strong results in payer performance programs
“Riverside has always been committed to delivering safe, high-quality care,” said Terry Sievers, MS, RN, Senior Vice President of Quality. “What’s changed over the last five years is how we’ve accelerated that commitment—using data, innovation, and leadership to take our performance to the next level. For our patients, that means more streamlined experiences, even stronger safety practices, and a health system that’s constantly evolving to meet their needs.”
As part of the 2025 Baldrige Executive Fellows cohort, Sievers will collaborate with 17 senior leaders from across the nation throughout a year of hands-on learning, strategic exploration, and cross-industry exchange. Fellows engage in site visits to high-performing organizations, collaborate with peers across sectors, and complete a capstone project focused on advancing strategic priorities within their own institutions.
“Terry has been instrumental in creating a culture of quality, accountability, and patient-first innovation at Riverside,” said Dr. Mike Dacey, President and CEO of Riverside Health. “Over the past few years—and especially this past year—the work our teams have done in quality has placed Riverside among the best-performing health systems in the country. Our patient experience scores ended last year above the 75th percentile nationally, which means we’re performing better than 75% of hospitals across the United States. Terry’s selection for the Baldrige Fellowship is a reflection of that progress and a recognition of Riverside’s leadership on a national scale.”
The Baldrige Executive Fellows Program is designed to foster leadership excellence, innovation, and resilience. Since its inception in 2010, the program has graduated more than 168 executives who have applied what they’ve learned to improve performance and strategy across the country.