The Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center announced it has won a platinum 2010 Connecticut Quality Improvement Award’s (CQIA) Innovation Prize. An integral part of the Connecticut business landscape, the CQIA awards have rewarded new technologies and techniques in local businesses since 1995.
The Prevention Research Center was one of four platinum winners, the highest level awarded from the CQIA. Awards will be presented at the Annual Connecticut Quality Improvement Award Conference on Quality and Innovation at Water's Edge Resort in Westbrook on Friday, October 29, 2010. The ceremony is open to the public.
"Even in a faltering economy, Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center has shown that forward-looking organizations bring forth outstanding new products and services," said Sheila Carmine, Founder and Executive Director of the Connecticut Quality Improvement Award (CQIA) Partnership in announcing this year’s winners.
Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center won the award this year for their creation of the NuValTM Nutritional Scoring System. Created at Griffin Hospital by Prevention Research Center Director Dr. David Katz, NuVal ranks all foods based on their nutritional content; the higher the score, the higher the nutrition. NuVal is currently in use on the shelves at more than 700 supermarkets across the country, including Price Chopper and Big Y, both with locations in Connecticut. NuVal is also exploring other applications for its food scores, such as providing nutritional guidance at vending machines and cafeterias.
“We’re both honored and humbled by this announcement,” said Dr. Katz. “The prestigious Innovation Award has been given to the best of the best in Connecticut business, and we are very proud to be in such company. We are, as well, quite proud of NuVal, which uses the best available science to function like a ‘GPS’ for the food supply, making finding better nutrition effortless for all. Diet is a cornerstone of health, and diet can be improved one well-informed choice at a time. NuVal provides the needed guidance, at a glance.”
Dr. Katz pointed out that the CQIA announcement coincides with Big Y’s recent publicity about placing NuVal scores on its store shelves.
“Because of our partnership with Big Y, NuVal scores will now be available for the first time to Griffin employees and residents of the communities Griffin Hospital serves at Big Y supermarkets in Ansonia, Naugatuck, Monroe and Stratford,” Dr. Katz said. “We’re hopeful that this award, along with the introduction of NuVal at 25 Big Y stores in Connecticut, will make even more consumers aware of NuVal and what it can do for them.”
About The Connecticut Quality Improvement Award (CQIA):
The Connecticut Quality Improvement Award (CQIA) is the nation's first state level quality award using the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for Performance Excellence criteria in a campaign to advance innovative programs that improve quality performance and marketplace competitiveness. The "Five Steps to the Baldrige Award" with the entry level CQIA Innovation Prize, midlevel Breakthrough Award and highest level Leadership Quality award recognize manufacturing and service companies, health care, education, government and other not-for-profit organizations. The Connecticut Quality Improvement Award Partnership, Inc., a Connecticut nonprofit 501(c)(3) tax exempt corporation, receives no money from state or federal government. All funding comes from application fees, conference registration and generous sponsors.
About Griffin Hospital:
Griffin Hospital, a 160-bed community hospital located in Derby, Connecticut, is one of only 10 hospitals worldwide to achieve designation as a Patient-Centered Hospital by Planetree, the leader in the patient-centered care movement. Griffin also received the Premier Healthcare Alliance 2010 Award for Quality, which recognizes top U.S. hospitals for efficiently providing outstanding patient care and consistently setting the standard in clinical excellence. Griffin’s ranking placed it in the top 1% of hospitals nationwide. As a Planetree hospital, Griffin is committed to providing personalized, humanistic, consumer-driven health care in a healing environment, to empowering individuals to be actively involved in decisions affecting their care and well-being through access to information and education, and to providing leadership to improve the health of the community it serves.
About NuVal:
The NuVal Nutritional Scoring System is a unique food labeling system which ranks all foods between 1 and 100; the higher the score, the higher the food’s overall nutrition. NuVal Scores can be found in participating grocery stores, where they are posted on shelf tags next to the product price and on in-store signage. Currently, NuVal scores can be found at Price Chopper, Hy-Vee, Meijer, and United Supermarket stores, with more U.S. retail chains scheduled to introduce the system to their customers in 2010. Visitors to the NuVal website (www.nuval.com) can find sample scores in a variety of categories. NuVal is a joint venture formed in 2008 by Topco Associates, LLC, and Griffin Hospital. Retailers interested in learning more about the NuVal System can contact NuVal LLC at partners@NuVal.com or (781) 228-5800.
