University Hospitals named a 2016 World's Most Ethical Company by the Ethisphere Institute

CLEVELAND, March 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- University Hospitals (UH) has been recognized by the Ethisphere Institute, the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, as a 2016 World's Most Ethical Company®.

This is the fourth time in five years the UH health system has received this honor. Only 131 companies or organizations worldwide, representing 54 industry sectors and 21 nations, earned a place on the Ethisphere Institute's 2016 list, including seven health care providers.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of Ethisphere and the World's Most Ethical Companies designation which recognizes those companies who align principle and action, work tirelessly to make trust part of their corporate DNA, and in doing so, shape future industry standards by introducing tomorrow's best practices today.

"Organizations are much more likely to succeed and sustain their success over the long term when they cultivate and communicate a universal commitment to ethical behavior and transparency," said Thomas F. Zenty III, Chief Executive Officer of UH. "So smart companies will make it an even higher priority in the years ahead to emphasize the importance of integrity and values. And they will hold employees at every level accountable for behaving ethically in all of their business dealings."

UH was able to highlight several programs to Ethisphere to demonstrate a culture of integrity and social responsibility.  At the core are UH's best-in class ethics and compliance program and sound corporate governance, and over and above that are programs designed to enhance the communities and environment in which we operate. These include a system-wide sustainability program; innovative workforce and economic development programs, such as Step Up to UH, which supports economic development in high poverty neighborhoods surrounding UH Case Medical Center; and various programs related to UH's strategy to "Hire Local, Live Local and Buy Local."

"We are committed to serving our communities and adhering to the highest ethical standards," said Kim F. Bixenstine, Chief Compliance Officer at UH. "This is a tremendous honor for our entire organization and a recognition of our commitment to integrity and doing the right thing."

Being a four-time honoree underscores UH's commitment to leading ethical business standards and practices ensuring long-term value to key stakeholders including patients, employees, suppliers, regulators.

"Companies rely on Ethisphere to continually raise and measure the standards of corporate behavior. Those that demonstrate leadership in areas like citizenship, integrity and transparency create more value for their investors, communities, customers and employees, thus solidifying a sustainable business advantage," explained Ethisphere's Chief Executive Officer Timothy Erblich. "Congratulations to everyone at University Hospitals for being recognized as a World's Most Ethical Company."

Methodology & Scoring

The World's Most Ethical Company assessment is based upon the Ethisphere Institute's Ethics Quotient™ (EQ) framework developed over years of research and vetted and refined by the expert advice from Ethisphere's World's Most Ethical Company Methodology Advisory Panel. The EQ offers a quantitative way to assess a company's performance in an objective, consistent and standardized way. The information collected provides a comprehensive sampling of definitive criteria of core competencies, rather than all aspects of corporate governance, risk, sustainability, compliance and ethics. Scores are generated in five key categories: ethics and compliance program (35 percent), corporate citizenship and responsibility (20 percent), culture of ethics (20 percent), governance (15 percent) and leadership, innovation and reputation (10 percent) and provided to all companies who participate in the process.

Honorees

The full list of the 2016 World's Most Ethical Companies can be found at http://worldsmostethicalcompanies.ethisphere.com/honorees/

Best practices and insights from the 2016 honorees will be released in the form of a whitepaper and infographics over the next few months (download the 2015 insights). Organizations interested in how they compare to the World's Most Ethical Companies are invited to participate in the Ethics Quotient.

About University Hospitals

Founded in May 1866, University Hospitals serves the needs of patients through an integrated network of 18 hospitals, more than 40 outpatient health centers and primary care physician offices in 15 counties throughout Northeast Ohio. At the core of our $4 billion health system is University Hospitals Case Medical Center, ranked among America's best hospitals by U.S. News & World Report. The primary affiliate of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, UH Case Medical Center is home to some of the most prestigious clinical and research programs in the nation, including cancer, pediatrics, women's health, orthopaedics, radiology, neuroscience, cardiology and cardiovascular surgery, digestive health, transplantation and genetics. Its main campus includes UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, ranked among the top children's hospitals in the nation; UH MacDonald Women's Hospital, Ohio's only hospital for women; and UH Seidman Cancer Center, part of the NCI-designated Case Comprehensive Cancer Center at Case Western Reserve University. UH is the second largest employer in Northeast Ohio with 26,000 employees. For more information, go to www.UHhospitals.org.

About the Ethisphere Institute

The Ethisphere® Institute is the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices that fuel corporate character, marketplace trust and business success. Ethisphere has deep expertise in measuring and defining core ethics standards using data-­driven insights that help companies enhance corporate character. Ethisphere honors superior achievement through its World's Most Ethical Companies® recognition program, provides a community of industry experts with the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA) and showcases trends and best practices in ethics with the publication of Ethisphere magazine. More information about Ethisphere can be found at: http://ethisphere.com.

SOURCE University Hospitals

Related Links

http://www.uhhospitals.org