The MHA Meritorious Service Award
Beginning in 1953 and presented annually by the Michigan Health & Hospital Association Board of Trustees as its highest achievement award to those whom the Committee on Nominations shall propose in recognition for an outstanding contribution of service to either hospitals or the hospital needs of the people of the state of Michigan.
2022
Wright Lassiter, III, Henry Ford Health System
2021
James “Chip” Falahee, senior vice president, Legal & Legislative Affairs, Bronson Healthcare, Grand Rapids
David Jahn, president and CEO, Chippewa County War Memorial Hospital, Sault Ste. Marie
Bill Jackson, former senior vice president and chief financial officer, MHA
2020
Robert Connors, MD, Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, Grand Rapids
2019
Paul E. LaCasse, DO, MPH
2018
Richard Breon, president and CEO, Spectrum Health, Grand Rapids
Rob Casalou, president and CEO, Mercy Health in western Michigan and Saint Joseph Mercy Health System in southeast Michigan
David Seaman, executive vice president and chief operating officer, MHA
2017
Dennis Swan, president and CEO, Sparrow Health System
James Bogan, UP Health System (retired)
2016
David Finkbeiner, Michigan Health & Hospital Association
Rodney M. Nelson, Mackinac Straits Health System
Douglas L. Strong, University of Michigan Health System
2015
Georgia Fojtasek, Allegiance Health, Jackson
2014
Garry C. Faja, Saint Joseph Mercy Health System, Ann Arbor
John MacLeod, Mercy Hospital Cadillac
Spencer Maidlow, Covenant HealthCare, Saginaw
2013
James Austin, Kalkaska Memorial Health Center and Paul Oliver Memorial Hospital, Frankfort
Brian Connolly, Oakwood Healthcare Inc., Dearborn
Philip H. McCorkle Jr., Saint Mary’s Health Care, Grand Rapids
2012
Rob Covert, Oaklawn Hospital, Marshall
Nancy Schlichting, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit
Anthony R. Tersigni, EdD, Ascension Health Alliance, St. Louis, MO
2011
Burton O. Parks, West Shore Medical Center, Manistee
Bruce L. Traverse, Carson City Hospital
2010
Kenneth Matzick, Beaumont Hospitals, Royal Oak
Tom Mroczkowski, Northern Michigan Regional Health System, Petoskey (posthumously)
2009
Wayne Hellerstedt, Helen Newberry Joy Hospital and Healthcare Center, Newberry
2008
Ned Hughes, Jr., Gerber Memorial Health Services, Fremont
Joe Wasserman, Lakeland Regional Health System, St. Joseph
2007
Gerald Fitzgerald, Oakwood Healthcare, Inc., Dearborn
Marlene Hulteen, Michigan Health & Hospital Association
2006
Richard Davidson, American Hospital Association
Frank Sardone, Bronson Healthcare Group, Kalamazoo
2005
Ted Wasson, William Beaumont Hospitals, Royal Oak
2004
Henry Veenstra, Zeeland Community Hospital
2003
Donald Fletcher, Port Huron Hospital
Donald Potter, Southeast Michigan Health & Hospital Council
2002
Fritz Kellermann, MHA Service Corporation, Lansing
2001
James Gardner, Huron Memorial Hospital, Bad Axe
2000
Charles Ellstein, Michigan Health & Hospital Association (posthumously)
1999
Hans Jeppesen, Bay Health System, Bay City (posthumously)
1998
Dean Stuart, MHA Hospital Purchasing Service, Middleville
1997
Kenneth Myers, William Beaumont Hospital Corp., Royal Oak
1996
Glenn Wesselmann, St. John Health System, Detroit
1995
Sandra Bennett Bruce, Muskegon Mercy Community Healthcare System
1994
Edward Thomas, Detroit Receiving Hospital & University Health Center .
1993
Spencer Johnson, Michigan Hospital Association
Edward McRee, Ingham Medical Center, Lansing
1992
Terence Moore, MidMichigan Regional Health System, Midland
1991
Robert Asmussen, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Michigan
1990
Jacque Sammet, MHA Insurance Company, Lansing
1989
Arthur Knueppel, St. Lawrence Hospital, Lansing
1988
Richard Hiltz, Mercy-Memorial Hospital, Monroe
1987
H. Allan Barth, past president, MHA
1986
Jack Ryan, MD, Detroit-Macomb Hospital Corporation
1985
Patric E. Ludwig, past president, MHA
1984
Gerson I. Cooper, Botsford General Hospital, Farmington Hills
1983
Edward Connors, Sisters of Mercy Health Corp., Farmington Hills
Henry Irwin, Reed City Hospital
1982
James T. Farley, St. Clair Health Services Corp., Detroit
Ronald O. Warner, Hurley Medical Center, Flint
1981
John C. Bay, Munson Medical Center, Traverse City
Robert A. Bradburn, Southwest Michigan Healthcare Assn., St. Joseph
1980
Joseph W. Schaeffer, MD, Rehabilitation Institute, Detroit
Richard L. Sejnost, Harper-Grace Hospitals, Detroit
1979
F. Karl Neumann, Sparrow Hospital, Lansing
1978
Frank A. Drazkowski, Grand View Hospital, Ironwood
1977
Karl S. Klicka, MD, Peoples Community Hospital Authority, Wayne
Kathleen Putnam, RN, Leelanau Memorial Hospital, Northport
1976
Lucy Grenzke, past president, MAHA
1975
Howard A. Hewitt, Schoolcraft Memorial Hospital, Manistique
Daniel N. Finch, Bronson Methodist Hospital, Kalamazoo
1974
Ralph F. Lindberg, DO, Detroit Osteopathic Hospital Corporation
Donald J. Pizzimenti, Peoples Community Hospital Authority, Wayne
1973
Charles H. Yeates, Allegan Health Center
1972
Mrs. Jane S. Davis, FACHA, Pawating Hospital, Niles
D. Bonta Hiscoe, MD, Community Health Services, Lansing
1971
Robin C. Buerke, MD, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit
W. Anson Hedgecock, Hospital Research & Educational Reserve, Jackson
1970
John J. Freysinger, Peoples Community Hospital Authority, Wayne
Marion J. Wright, RN, Jennings Memorial Hospital, Detroit
1969
Andrew Pattullo, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Battle Creek
Lee W. Yothers, Ferguson-Droste-Ferguson Hospital, Grand Rapids
1968
C. Tiffany Loftus, Mercy Hospital, Benton Harbor
Vergil N. Slee, MD, Pennock Hospital, Hastings
1967
Franklin D. Carr, Detroit Memorial Hospital
D. Eugene Sibery, Crittenton General Hospital, Detroit
1966
George E. Cartmill, Harper-Grace Hospitals, Detroit
1965
Jacques Cousin, Detroit Medical Center Corporation
Mother Mary Maurita Sengelaub, Sisters of Mercy, Detroit
1964
Albert Carl Kerlikowski, MD, University Hospitals, Ann Arbor
1963
Albert E. Heustis, MD, Michigan Department of Public Health, Lansing
Vernon Thompson Root, Community Hospital, Battle Creek Meritorious Service – Page 4
1962
B.D. Dann, Hackley Hospital, Muskegon
Bennett J. McCarthy, Michigan Hospital Service, Detroit
1961
E. Dwight Barnett, MD, Harper Hospital, Detroit
Ronald D. Yaw, Blodgett Memorial Hospital, Grand Rapids
1960
Jordan Joseph Popkin, Michigan Department of Public Health, Lansing
1959
Charles E. Findlay, Alpena General Hospital
1958
Arthur Furstenberg, MD, College of Medicine, University of Michigan
Joseph R. Homminga, MI Office of Hospital Survey & Construction
1955
Howard Robert Estes, Former State Representative; Oakland County Hospital & Infirmary
1954
Augustus Confield Ledyard, Dickinson, Wright, et al., Detroit
1953
Mother Carmelita Manning, Mt. Carmel Mercy Hospital Detroit
I.R. Peters, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit
1952
Mrs. Ronald (Elrose) Yaw, MAHA Pioneer and past MAHA president