MINNEAPOLIS, July 9, 2008—Lakewood Health System, of Staples, Minn., has been named the number one winner nationally in the small hospital category of the 2008 Top Leadership Teams in Healthcare awards program.

The program recognizes the best leadership teamwork in hospitals, health plans, and medical group practices.

A news release from The HealthLeaders Media Top Leadership Teams in Healthcare program noted that Lakewood has grown from a small community hospital to a regional health network that includes a 25-bed hospital, a 100-bed care center, a 40-apartment senior service facility, and a senior behavioral health unit.

"Under the direction of President Tim Rice, Lakewood's leadership took a community-centered approach to the design and functions of a new $42 million facility that opened in 2006," the release said. "In order to reach benchmarks for construction of the new facility, the leadership team had to increase new income by 300 percent to ensure long-term financial viability in an economically challenged area."

The HealthLeaders Media Top Leadership Teams in Healthcare program is designed to celebrate the outstanding teamwork that occurs in gealth care organizations each day, to share what makes top leadership teams successful, and to encourage other health care leaders to learn from the best practices of top leadership teams.

Winners are judged on the leadership teams' overall leadership culture, their ability to overcome challenges, and their ability to demonstrate successes that result from outstanding leadership teamwork. Only one winner per category receives this national honor each year.