Press Release

Al G. Stubblefield to Receive AHA Award of Honor

Contact:
AHA Press Room - (202) 797-4840
After April 9th - David Allen - (202) 626-2313 or
Elizabeth Lietz - (202) 626-2284

Washington D.C.

The American Hospital Association (AHA) will present its Award of Honor to Alfred G. Stubblefield, president and CEO of Baptist Health Care in Pensacola, Fla., in recognition of his outstanding contributions to improving the health status of communities and the nation. The award recognizes exemplary contributions to the health and well-being of people through leadership on major health policies or social initiatives.  The award will be presented at a ceremony on Monday, April 7 during the AHA's annual meeting in Washington, DC. 

Stubblefield has been with Baptist Health Care since 1985, and has served in his current position since 1999.  Before coming to Baptist, he worked in hospitals in Mississippi and Tennessee. 

Stubblefield has served on the AHA Board of Trustees and Executive Committee and is currently on the board of the AHA's Health Research and Educational Trustee.  He is currently serving on the VHA and Florida Hospital Association Board of Trustees, is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, has served on the board of Florida Hospital Association and is former Chairman of the Association of Voluntary Hospitals of Florida.  

"Al's achievements in quality of care and his willingness to share that knowledge have bettered health care nationwide," said Rich Umbdenstock, AHA president and CEO."  

He received a master's of science degree from the University of Alabama in Birmingham, Ala. He earned his bachelor's degree from Mississippi College in Clinton, Miss.

Regina M. Benjamin, M.D., M.B.A, founder and CEO of Bayou La Batre Rural Health Clinic in Bayou La Batre, Ala., will also receive the Award of Honor this year.  Previous Award of Honor winners include Edward A. Eckenhoff, president and CEO of the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) in Washington, D.C., Stanley F. Hupfeld, president and CEO of INTEGRIS Health in Oklahoma City, James W. Varnum, president of Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital in Lebanon, N.H., Jordan J. Cohen, MD, president of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), Sister Mary Jean Ryan, president and CEO of SSM Health in St. Louis, Mo., Ron Anderson, president and CEO, Parkland Health & Hospital System in Dallas, Texas, Steven A. Schroeder, M.D., former president and CEO of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Donald M. Berwick, M.D., president and CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.  Organizations such as Johnson & Johnson, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices and Habitat for Humanity have also been honored.

About AHA

The AHA is a not-for-profit association of health care provider organizations and individuals that are committed to the improvement of health in their communities. The AHA is the national advocate for its members, which includes more than 5,000 member hospitals, health systems and other health care organizations, and 38,000 individual members. Founded in 1898, the AHA provides education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends.