Larry S. Sanders, FACHE, chairman and CEO of Columbus Regional Healthcare System, Ga., has been named the recipient of the American College of Healthcare Executives 2006 Gold Medal Award. Sanders will receive the award on Monday, March 27, 2006, at the Arthur C. Bachmeyer Memorial Address and Luncheon during ACHE’s 49th Congress on Healthcare Leadership in Chicago.
The Gold Medal Award is ACHE’s highest honor bestowed on outstanding leaders who, through a career of service, have made significant contributions to the healthcare field. The purpose of this award is to identify Fellows of the American College of Healthcare Executives who best exemplify leadership at the organizational, local, state/provincial and national levels. The Gold Medal Award recognizes individuals who go beyond the confines of their own organization to continually contribute to the improvement of healthcare services and community health.
Sanders has been chairman and CEO of Columbus Regional Healthcare System since 1989. Prior to that, he was president and CEO of The Medical Center, Columbus, Ga., from 1986 to 1992 and executive vice president/chief operating officer of The Medical Center from 1981 to 1986. From 1974 to 1981, he held positions of progressive responsibility at Shallowford Community Hospital (now Dunwoody Medical Center), Atlanta, and Jackson-Madison County General Hospital, Jackson, Tenn.
Throughout his career, Sanders has held a number of leadership positions in various healthcare organizations. An ACHE affiliate since 1976, Sanders served ACHE as a Regent for Georgia from 1994 to 1998, a Governor from 1998 to 2001 and Chairman from 2003 to 2004. He is a member of several boards of directors, and he is chairman of the board of directors and executive committee of the Greater Columbus, Georgia, Chamber of Commerce. Sanders is a past chairman of the Georgia Hospital Association and was the section delegate for the American Hospital Association Section for Metropolitan Hospitals. Sanders continues to share his wealth of experience in the healthcare field as adjunct faculty for the School of Allied Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and affiliate professor for the Department of Health Administration at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.
Sanders has earned a number of awards recognizing his leadership in healthcare, including the Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals CEO of the Year in 2004; the Gold Honor Award of Excellence, Health Care Workforce Leadership Award, Community Leadership Award and Chairman’s Award for Innovative Contributions and Meritorious Service from GHA: An Association of Hospital and Health Systems in 2004, 2003, 2000 and 1999, respectively; the American Hospital Association (AHA) NOVA Award in 2000, Special Recognition and Award as Most Valuable PAC Player for the State of Georgia from AHA in 1998; and Healthcare Forum’s Emerging Leaders in Health Care Award in 1991.
Board certified in healthcare management and an ACHE Fellow, Sanders received his master’s degree in healthcare administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and his bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee.
The American College of Healthcare Executives is an international professional society of 30,000 healthcare executives who lead hospitals, healthcare systems and other healthcare organizations. ACHE is known for its prestigious credentialing and educational programs and its annual Congress on Healthcare Leadership, which draws more than 4,000 participants each year. ACHE is also known for its journals, the Journal of Healthcare Management and Frontiers of Health Services Management and its magazine, Healthcare Executive, as well as ground-breaking research and career development and public policy programs. ACHE's publishing division, Health Administration Press, is one of the largest publishers of books and journals on all aspects of health services management in addition to textbooks for use in college and university courses. Through such efforts, ACHE works toward its goal of being the premier professional society for healthcare leaders by providing exceptional value to its members.