Moon Township, PA, (December 14, 2009) – Heritage Valley Health System employee Shane Bender, manager of construction at Heritage Valley Beaver, recently won the 2009 Donald M. Sauerman Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Field of Health Facility Engineering. This award was presented by the Pennsylvania Society for Health Facility Engineering (PSHFE) to Shane in Harrisburg in October.

Shane, a member of the PSHFE, completed a Six Sigma project on Physical Plant Patient Rooms, which focused on upgrading all patient rooms at the Heritage Valley Beaver campus. Heritage Valley uses the Six Sigma quality improvement process throughout its health system to continually improve its operations. Shane’s project results led to significant improvements related to the cost and time to renovate patient rooms. Each year, the Sauerman Award is given to one individual that the Society feels has made the greatest contribution to Healthcare Engineering.

About Heritage Valley Health System

Heritage Valley Health System provides comprehensive healthcare for residents of Allegheny, Beaver, Butler and Lawrence counties, in Pennsylvania; eastern Ohio; and the panhandle of West Virginia. In partnership with more than 400 physicians, Heritage Valley offers a broad range of medical, surgical and diagnostic services at its two hospitals, Heritage Valley Beaver, and Heritage Valley Sewickley; in physician offices; and community satellite facilities. Additional information about Heritage Valley Health System is available online at www.heritagevalley.org.