In 1993, the Board of Laaduntarkkailu Oy decided to establish a Quality Control Award to recognise individuals who have made outstanding contributions to quality control work. The award is presented annually to one or more recipients. The first awards, consisting of graphic prints and certificates of honour, were presented to Professor Nils-Erik Saris, Professor Paul Grönroos, Counsellor of State Heikki Simola, and Medical Counsellor Erkki Leskinen.
In issue 3/1994 of Moodi, the first award recipients were described as follows:
“What the award recipients have in common is that they understood the importance of building quality approximately 10–15 years before it became a widely discussed topic. Their work and ideas have helped Laaduntarkkailu Oy develop into the competitive organisation it is today.
Heikki Simola was involved in founding the company and served as Chairman of the Board from 1971 to 1989. Nils-Erik Saris contributed to the idea of establishing the company and later served on the Board from 1971 to 1977 and as Chair of the Technical Committee from 1971 to 1979. He has not forgotten quality control since then, but has continued to be involved in numerous projects. Erkki Leskinen was also involved in founding the company. He served on the Board and the Technical Committee from 1971 to 1979, after which Nordkem took him elsewhere. Even there, he continued to promote quality control in Finland. Paul Grönroos joined in 1977 as the initiator, implementer and pioneer of microbiological quality control. From modest beginnings, a substantial microbiological quality control programme has now grown, and he remains actively involved.”
The awards—certificates of honour and graphic prints by Estonian artist Avo Keerend—were presented at the opening of Laaduntarkkailupäivät by Arvo Relander, Chairman of the Board of Laaduntarkkailu Oy, and Raija Pikkarainen, Chief Executive Officer.
Today, the award is known as the Quality Excellence Award and is presented to individuals who have worked diligently and achieved significant results in developing and promoting quality in healthcare.
Raimo Tenhunen Award
Another award presented at the Labquality Days congress is the Raimo Tenhunen Award, which was presented for the first time in 2009.
The Labquality Board established the award in 2009 to thank and honour Raimo Tenhunen for his long-term and fruitful work for the benefit of Labquality and the entire field of laboratory medicine.
At the time, Professor Ilkka Mononen, Chairman of the Labquality Board, stated in his speech:
“The Raimo Tenhunen Award means an acknowledgement, a diploma, and a symbolic present. This will not be an annual award, but it is given by special decision of the Labquality Board to a person who has given long-lasting, valuable support to Labquality’s work and its objectives, or to a person with special achievements or an invention that brings exceptional value to quality improvement.”
Scroll through past winners in the gallery below.
