NHS Human Services Senior VP Named Fellow of the Health Ethics Trust

NHS HUMAN SERVICES SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT NAMED FELLOW OF THE HEALTH ETHICS TRUST

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 23, 2009

CONTACT:

Richard Scott, Senior Corporate Director of Communications

Phone: 610.260.4613

Leah Pason, Executive Vice President, Administrative Services

Phone: 610.260.4620

LAFAYETTE HILL, PA – John Ciavardone, Chief Compliance Officer and Senior Vice President for Compliance and Quality of NHS Human Services, has been named a Fellow of the Health Ethics Trust.  Established over a decade ago to honor those individuals who have made an exceptional contribution to the endeavor of healthcare compliance, this national recognition is the highest honor bestowed by the Health Ethics Trust.

Mr. Ciavardone joins the ranks of many distinguished award recipients, including NHS Chairman and CEO, Senator M. Joseph Rocks, the CEO Fellow for 2008.   Other past fellows include June Gibbs Brown, Inspector General of the US Department of Health and Human Services; Anthony Spezia, CEO of Covenant Health in Tennessee; Vicky Gregg, CEO of BCBS in Tennessee; and Marianne Spicer, CCO of the Mass General Health System.

The Health Ethics Trust (HET) is a division of the Council of Ethical Organizations, and was established in 1995 in response to the growing ethics and compliance concerns in the healthcare field. The purpose of the HET is to assist healthcare organizations committed to ethical and legal conduct through educational programs, research, and shared resources. NHS Human Services, headquartered in Lafayette Hill, PA, is the largest non-profit provider of human services in the country, with programs in seven states serving over 50,000 individuals every year.

This award recognizes Mr. Ciavardone’s leadership in the compliance community and his dedication to promoting compliance and integrity within NHS through their award-winning compliance program.  Mr. Ciavardone has been employed with NHS since 1987 and has headed up their Compliance Program since he initiated it 11 years ago.  In their award, the Health Ethics Trust said, “Compliance officers think of Mr. Ciavardone as the Thomas Edison of behavioral health compliance.  Mr. Ciavardone and his team developed many of the practices now considered the standard for behavioral health compliance. He is a healthcare compliance pioneer in directly tying compliance and quality together – something that many espouse but few accomplish.”

Mr. Ciavardone will receive this award formally at the Health Ethics Trust Best Practices Forum on October 26, 2009.