AHF Awards Program

AHF opens up its industry awards submission annually in conjunction with its Annual Conference. AHF Members are encouraged to submit nominations for the available awards listed below. Award winners are recognized at the Annual Conference each year. We will continue to celebrate our award recipients in our publications, like the S.O. Connected following conference.

To apply: Submit a nomination using the online form. The 2022 form is open until March 31, 2022. You must submit one form for each nomination. Applicants will be able to edit their submissions up until the deadline.

Please note that select finalists will be interviewed via phone by a member of the awards committee. You will be given an opportunity to further support what you have included in the form submission. If you have any questions about the application process or supporting documentation, please contact AHF Staff.

2021 Award Winners:

Exemplary Leadership Award
Angela O’Neill
Hunterdon Medical Center

This award will be bestowed upon the operator member who best reflects the commitment to operational excellence that Don Marsh brought to healthcare foodservice. Don Marsh, former president of the American Society for Healthcare Food Service Administrators (ASHFSA), was dedicated to the healthcare profession and to his colleagues. He was a longtime supporter of programs to raise the professionalism of operators in the healthcare foodservice industry and was known to contribute generously. The award will recognize member contributions in their operations as well as to regional, local chapters or networking meetings.

Future Horizon Award
Alicia Preston
Rogue Valley Manor

This award recognizes operator members who are new to management (less than 5 years) and demonstrate a desire for future growth through contributions to their hospitals or community.

Sustainability Award
Gina Sadowski
Seattle Children’s Hospital

This award recognizes operator members who implemented or continuously improved and expanded foodservice waste reduction programs on the path to sustainability.  Areas include food waste reduction, waste storing programs, composting, recycling, water conservation, improving use of reusable, and food donation programs.

Partnership in Leadership Award
Lois Dennison & Seth Grant
Eskenazi Health 

This award recognizes an operator member’s facility that demonstrates a strong commitment to self-operation and currently supports the foodservice director or foodservice administrative director.

Spotlight Award
Erica Block
Rush University Medical Center

This award recognizes operator members who have enhanced operations through new ideas and industry trends. This may include any of the following: technology, program development, implementation, innovation, sustainability, community impact, mergers/acquisitions, and /or creative use of managing finances.

Benchmarking Award of Excellence
Heather Duffy
JFK Medical Center

This award recognizes a healthcare facility who has used AHF Benchmarking EXPRESS™ consistently, showed improvement in KPI’s and utilized data to improve their operations.

Chapter of the Year Award
AHF New Jersey Chapter

This award recognizes an AHF Local Chapter that promotes the overall Association’s mission.

Questions? Contact Sarah Bennett – sbennett@healthcarefoodservice.org

Available Awards:

Sustainability Award

This award recognizes operator members who implemented or continuously improved and expanded foodservice waste reduction programs on the path to sustainability.  Areas include food waste reduction, waste storing programs, composting, recycling, water conservation, improving use of reusable, and food donation programs.

Benchmarking Award of Excellence

This award recognizes a healthcare facility who has used AHF Benchmarking EXPRESS™ consistently, showed improvement in KPI’s and utilized data to improve their operations.

Chapter of the Year Award

This award recognizes an AHF Local Chapter that promotes the overall Association’s mission.

Exemplary Leadership Award

This award will be bestowed upon the operator member who best reflects the commitment to operational excellence that Don Marsh brought to healthcare foodservice. Don Marsh, former president of the American Society for Healthcare Food Service Administrators (ASHFSA), was dedicated to the healthcare profession and to his colleagues. He was a longtime supporter of programs to raise professionalism of operators in the healthcare foodservice industry and was known to contribute generously. The award will recognize member contributions in their operations as well as to regional, local chapters or networking meetings.

Future Horizon Award

This award recognizes operator members who are new to management (less than 5 years) and demonstrate a desire for future growth through contributions to their hospitals or community.

Partnership in Leadership Award

This award recognizes an operator member’s facility that demonstrates a strong commitment to self-operation and currently supports the foodservice director or foodservice administrative director.

Spotlight Award

This award recognizes operator members who have enhanced operations through new ideas and industry trends. This may include any of the following: technology, program development, implementation, innovation, sustainability, community impact, mergers/aquisitions, and /or creative use of managing finances.

Questions? Contact Sarah Bennett – sbennett@healthcarefoodservice.org