Carilion Clinic honored as 2025 Client of the Year for Surgical Excellence

Carilion Clinic, a Virginia-based healthcare system, has been honored as the 2025 Client of the Year by Surgical Directions, a healthcare solutions company. The award recognizes Carilion's leadership in advancing perioperative performance through physician-led governance, multidisciplinary collaboration, and a sustained commitment to operational excellence.

Headquartered in Roanoke, Carilion serves nearly 1 million Virginians through a comprehensive network of hospitals, physician practices, and healthcare services. The organization has invested in the evolution of its surgical services, focusing on improving access, enhancing collaboration among clinical leaders, and establishing a sustainable framework for continuous improvement.

One of the key elements of Carilion's success is the development of an integrated perioperative governance structure. This structure brings together surgeons, anesthesiologists, nursing leaders, and hospital executives to share goals, performance measures, and strategic priorities. This collaborative approach has created a sustainable perioperative system that supports ongoing improvement while maintaining close engagement between clinicians and operational leaders.

Joan Stroud Cox, a Nursing Consultant at Surgical Directions, highlighted Carilion's achievements. "Carilion is a great example of how a health system can bring clinical and operational leaders together to achieve surgical excellence," she said. "Their leaders have built a strong foundation for collaboration and accountability, and they continue to build on that."

At the heart of Carilion's approach is a physician-led Surgical Services Executive Committee that includes key stakeholders from surgery, anesthesia, nursing, and administration. This committee guides strategic decisions and supports performance across the perioperative enterprise. Carilion also established multidisciplinary performance improvement teams, standardized operational metrics, advanced block scheduling practices, and improved communication across departments.

These efforts have led to several measurable improvements in surgical operations and patient access. Carilion has seen: - Enhanced first-case on-time starts. - Reduced operating room turnover times through standardized processes and improved multidisciplinary coordination. - Improved utilization of surgical capacity and expanded patient access. - Established physician-led governance structures that continue to operate and evolve. - Strengthened collaboration among surgeons, anesthesiologists, nursing leaders, and hospital administration. - Developed internal leadership capabilities to support continuous performance improvement.

"The work at Carilion demonstrates the power of continuous improvement in surgical services," said Leslie Basham, President and CEO of Surgical Directions. "They have built the structures and relationships needed to bring the right people together, use data to guide decisions, and keep improvement moving forward."

Carilion's success extends beyond individual performance initiatives. The governance model provides a long-term framework for evaluating priorities, coordinating improvement efforts, and advancing the strategic goals of the surgical services enterprise. "Our success was never just about improving a few metrics," said Stephen Lovern, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, Vice President, Department of Surgery and Anesthesia at Carilion. "It was about creating a sustainable system for continuous improvement. By bringing surgeons, anesthesiologists, nursing leaders, and administrators together, we created an environment where accountability, transparency, and collaboration drive better decisions every day."

"Surgical Directions helped us build the foundation, but the real achievement belongs to our physicians, nurses, and staff who embraced the work and continue to advance it," Lovern added. "We are honored to receive this recognition and proud of what our teams have accomplished for our patients and communities."

The partnership between Carilion and Surgical Directions reflects a shared commitment to strengthening the systems that support high-performing surgical services. Surgical Directions worked alongside Carilion's teams to support the development of governance structures, performance improvement processes, and operational strategies designed to remain effective beyond the initial engagement. Today, the governance structures established through this work continue to guide strategic decisions, support operational performance, and advance patient access across Carilion's surgical services enterprise.

"Surgical Directions' partnership with Carilion demonstrates the potential when a health system builds on the expertise and commitment already within its organization and creates the structures to bring that expertise together," said Basham. "Their commitment to collaboration, accountability, and patient-centered excellence has made them a deserving recipient of our 2025 Client of the Year Award."

The Client of the Year Award, presented annually by Surgical Directions, recognizes healthcare organizations that exemplify innovation, leadership, and measurable achievement in advancing perioperative performance and patient care.