PITTSBURGH (March 28, 2019) — Highmark Health's Gary M. Foster, vice president of procurement, took top honors at the Procurement Leaders™ inaugural Americas Procurement Awards held in Miami mid-March. Profiles of all of the award winners are featured online.
L to R: Master of Ceremonies Fernando Machado, CMO with Burger King; Highmark Health’s Gary Foster, VP of Procurement and Procurement Leader award winner; Eric Weitz, Senior Account Director with event sponsor Coupa.
Foster was recognized as the "Procurement Leader" of the year for transforming Highmark Health's procurement organization by fueling innovation; building a team capable of delivering consistently in areas such as cost savings, cycle times and supplier diversity; and leading a team effort to ensure that procurement is viewed as a trusted business partner and a function able to deliver genuine value to the company at large.
A 32-year veteran of the procurement industry, Foster guides Highmark Health's multi-billion dollar spend from its headquarters location in Pittsburgh, also home to several of the organization's leading health care affiliates, including the Highmark Health Plan, Allegheny Health Network, and HM Insurance Group.
According to Procurement Leaders™, the new Americas Procurement Awards are a celebration of the most impressive and transformative procurement initiatives, teams and individuals throughout North and South America, and pay tribute to the leading innovators in the most competitive market in the world. The awards were judged by a committee of seven procurement experts from leading organizations including Biogen, Logitech, Jabil, Jacobs and Barclays.
"Through Gary Foster's leadership since 2016, we've transformed the procurement function on nearly every front," said Karen Hanlon, chief operating officer of Highmark Health and former CFO. "Procurement has successfully evolved from a reactive, transactional function to a proactive, strategic function that is achieving stronger business partnerships, operational excellence and a new standard of value creation across the enterprise."
"It's an honor to be recognized in the Americas Procurement Awards and to represent the outstanding success of Highmark Health and our procurement team," said Foster. "Our organization's leadership and employees are driven to create a remarkable health care experience, freeing people to be their best. Our high-performance team is proud to support that mission as trusted stewards who work strategically and competitively on behalf of our customers and communities."
Highmark Health has additionally been short-listed in the Worlds Procurement Leader Awards, founded in 2007, in three categories including procurement leader (Gary M. Foster), procurement transformation, and supplier diversity and inclusion. Winners of the Worlds will be announced in May of 2019.
More about the awards is on the Procurement Leaders™ website.
Janice Maszle
Highmark Health
412-544-7643
Email Janice
Founded in 2004, Procurement Leaders™ is the world's most valued professional procurement network — a unique and vital destination that connects, inspires and accelerates our members to become more successful. Powered by a community of over 700 leading global corporations and 27,000 senior procurement, sourcing and supply chain executives, we accelerate our members' journeys to superior performance, providing access to the in-depth insight, practical tools and expert guidance they need to transform procurement into a critical business driver. For more information about Procurement Leaders, visit www.procurementleaders.com.
Highmark Health, a Pittsburgh, PA-based enterprise that employs more than 43,000 people who serve millions of Americans across the country, is the second largest integrated health care delivery and financing network in the nation based on revenue. Highmark Health is the parent company of Highmark Inc., Allegheny Health Network, and HM Health Solutions. Highmark Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates provide health insurance to 4.5 million members in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Delaware as well as dental insurance, vision care, and related health products through a national network of diversified businesses that include United Concordia Companies, HM Insurance Group, and Visionworks. Allegheny Health Network is the parent company of an integrated delivery network that includes eight hospitals, more than 2,300 affiliated physicians, ambulatory surgery centers, an employed physician organization, home and community-based health services, a research institute, a group purchasing organization, and health and wellness pavilions in western Pennsylvania. HM Health Solutions focuses on meeting the information technology platform and other business needs of the Highmark Health enterprise as well as unaffiliated health insurance plans by providing proven business processes, expert knowledge, and integrated cloud-based platforms. To learn more, visit www.highmarkhealth.org.
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