Gov. Pat McCrory presented Lower Cape Fear Hospice & LifeCareCenter with the Governor’s Award of Performance Excellence in Healthcare.
He bestowed the award Feb. 20 at an event in Cary hosted by the N.C. Hospital Association.

The award marks the agency’s achievement of reaching Level One on its Malcolm Baldrige Performance Excellence Journey. The Baldrige Program, which the agency began in 2012, focuses on improving effectiveness, sustainability, innovation, integrated process and organizational learning, according to a news release.

Laurie Bystrom, president and CEO of Lower Cape Fear Hospice & LifeCareCenter, accepted the award on behalf of the agency.

“Lower Cape Fear Hospice should be very proud to be the first hospice to receive the Governor’s Award for Healthcare Excellence,” Jack Barto, president and CEO of New Hanover Regional Medical Center, said in the release.

Bystrom now has the agency looking to reach Level Two of the Baldrige Program by discussing strategic goals and embedding quality processes throughout the organization.

“My goal is to prepare our organization for whatever the future holds by putting good processes into place that look at how we can best serve our customers,” Bystrom said in the release.