Health Care Leadership Awards

OHA each year presents three Health Care Leadership Awards to honor outstanding individuals and organizations whose achievements have enhanced and brought honor to Ohio hospitals:

Donald R. Newkirk Award

This award recognizes and honors an individual who has made a significant lifetime contribution to the health care field in Ohio. Named for the man who led OHA for 27 years, from 1962-1989, the award is presented to an individual with multiple years of health care service who has made a significant impact in his or her hospital, the local community and across the state of Ohio.

James R. Castle Distinguished Service Award

This award bears the name of OHA’s retired president and CEO Jim Castle and honors an individual whose professional attainments embody qualities of an outstanding leader or mentor for service to the community, or other special achievement.

Dr. Eli Crew Community Service Excellence Award

Named after OHA’s first president, Dr. Eli R. Crew, former superintendent of Dayton’s Miami Valley Hospital, this award recognizes an individual or organization who has served as a friend to hospitals and health systems and whose support of the health care industry reflects the public interest.

Presentation of Awards 

The 2023 recognitions were presented June 13 at the 108th OHA Annual Meeting & Education Summit.

View the 2023 Awards Photo Album

Quick Links

OHA Contacts

James Guliano

James Guliano

Senior Vice President of Operations & Chief Clinical Officer

John Palmer

John Palmer

Director, Public and Media Relations

Health Care Leadership Awards Honorees

2023 Donald R. Newkirk Award - Bruce White, President & CEO, Know Community Hospital

Bruce White has been at Knox Community Hospital for 27 years in the positions of Director of Information Services, Assistant Administrator and, for the past 17 years, as the organization’s Chief Executive Officer. He holds a Master of Business Administration degree with certification in Healthcare Management from The University of Dallas; a Master of Business in Operational Excellence in Healthcare with Six Sigma Lean Green Belt certification from The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business; and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Mathematics from Youngstown State University. White is in his third year on the American Hospital Association Board currently serving as Chair for AHA Regional Policy Board Region 5, Chair of the Investment Committee, member of the Operations Committee and AHAPAC, and as Board liaison to the Committee for Behavioral Health. In 2015, he was named Hospital CEO of the Year by Quorum Health Resources and, in 2017 Knox Community Hospital was named Quorum’s Top Performing Hospital over $100M in Net Revenue.

2023 James R. Castle Distinguished Service Award - Mandy Goble, FACHE, President & CEO (retired), Mary Rutan Health

Mandy Goble retired as president of Mary Rutan Hospital (Bellefontaine) in 2021. Her career with the hospital included 32 years, including more than 17 years as president and CEO. Before serving as CEO, Goble served as executive vice president from 2001 to 2004 and vice president of operations from 1989 to 2004. She is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. Goble’s dedication to the Bellefontaine community and Mary Rutan Health has been evident in her drive to expand the level of services and maintain the organization's financial strength, strategically positioning Mary Rutan Health to remain independent. During her tenure, Goble brought increased health care services to the community through expanded and new service lines, building projects and community programming outreach. The new Goble Center for Women & Children at Mary Rutan (named in honor of Goble) opened last year, and the new Goble Center will provide the women and children of the community with a dedicated place to receive the care they need to live long and healthy lives, impacting the well-being of the community for generations. Goble was an active member of OHA, serving on the Small and Rural Committee, the PAC Board and OHA Board of Trustees.

2023 Dr. Eli Crew Community Service Excellence Award - The Ohio Business Roundtable

The Ohio Business Roundtable created the Stop the Spread Coalition in 2020 which comprised of over 180 businesses (including OHA and member hospitals and health systems), non-profit organizations and education institutions. Its goal was to mobilize a grassroots effort by ordinary Ohioans to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and curb the spread of the virus. OBRT’s Stop the Spread Coalition provided businesses important information to advise workforce about COVID-19 and vaccine safety. These resources were available to the business community in Ohio through a website. In 1992, the Ohio Business Roundtable was established for one sole purpose: to improve Ohio’s business climate.  Since its inception, the OBRT has worked with Ohio’s governors and legislative leaders to make Ohio more business-friendly and more competitive both nationally and internationally. The Roundtable is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization comprised of over 100 presidents and CEOs of Ohio’s top companies, 75 of which are headquartered in the state and more than one third of which are Fortune 1000 companies.