Hillsdale Hospital President and CEO earns national award for leadership excellence

What’s happening: Jeremiah “JJ” Hodshire, president and CEO of Hillsdale Hospital, has been awarded the 2026 Leadership Excellence in Healthcare award from the Malcolm Baldrige Foundation. The award recognizes national leaders in healthcare who demonstrate role-model leadership. Hodshire will be honored during the Baldrige Foundation’s Awards Program in Baltimore on March 31, 2026.

About Hodshire: In his role as president and CEO, Hodshire has brought specialty services such as vascular care, neurosurgery and podiatry to Hillsdale Hospital in order to better serve Hillsdale residents. He also appears on weekly radio productions, social media livestreams, podcast episodes and other outlets to share the mission of rural healthcare and help advance community education and health literacy. Hodshire maintains constant communication with legislative leaders and representatives, voicing the health needs of both his own community and rural health across the country.

Hodshire’s qualities as a leading voice in rural healthcare access have previously earned him the Louis Gorin Award for Outstanding Achievement in Rural Healthcare from the National Rural Health Association in 2022. He has also been recognized as a Hometown Healthcare Hero by the Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph Community Health Agency, earned the Extraordinary Leaders Achievement Recognition by the Medical Group Management Association in 2021 and the Marvin E. Howell Leadership Award by the Hillsdale County Economic Development Partnership.

What they’re saying: “JJ is very deserving of the Baldrige Foundation’s leadership award,” said Mark Gross, Hillsdale Hospital’s chief financial officer. “During his tenure as CEO, JJ’s focus and leadership has led to improvement in all of our strategic pillars: people, service, quality, finance and growth. His dedication to Hillsdale Hospital, the community and the needs of all rural hospitals is admirable.”

About the award: Established by Congress in 1987, Baldrige Foundation awards are conferred by the president of the United States to U.S. organizations for achieving the highest levels of performance excellence, recognizing individuals whose leadership has strengthened their organization and surrounding community. The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award also recognizes other industry sectors, including business, government, education and cybersecurity.