Heywood Healthcare is Charging Towards the Future with Excellence as Fuel
This week Heywood received yet another honor with President and CEO Rozanna Penney being named to the Becker’s 2025 List of “Critical Access Hospital CEOs to Know“. Becker pointed towards the transformation at Athol Hospital which jumped rapidly to a 5 Star rating. Heywood Healthcare has fast become the model for Financial Independence, successfully navigating a turnaround and continuing to grow as a vital, independent community resource with praise for its life-changing Innovative Care options.
Heywood Healthcare has emerged with a pattern of Fueling Excellence in Healthcare. Honors and achievements include the following dozen recent accolades:
100 Top Community Hospitals in the Nation: Recognized by Becker’s Hospital Review for clinical excellence and community impact.
2. 2025 Non-Profit Turnaround of the Year: Awarded by the national Turnaround Management Association (TMA) for our successful emergence from Chapter 11 as an independent system.
3. Top 150 Places to Work in Healthcare (2025): Named by Becker’s Hospital Review for our commitment to employee well-being and culture.
4. Performance Leadership Award for Excellence in Outcomes: Athol Hospital earned this national honor from The Chartis Center for Rural Health, placing it in the top quartile of rural hospitals in the U.S. .
5. CMS 4-Star Quality Rating: Heywood Hospital achieved a 4-star rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
6. CMS 5-Star Rating (Athol Hospital): Athol Hospital achieved an exceptional 5-star rating from CMS, making it the only critical access hospital in the U.S. to jump from 1 to 5 stars so rapidly.
7. Heywood Solar Project – National Grid Showcase: Selected as a premiere model for grid modernization; this project generates one-third of our electricity and is projected to save $2 million over 20 years .
8. Individual Leadership Honors: Rozanna Penney (President & CEO): * Named 2025 Healthcare Administrator of the Year by Champions of Health Care. * Recognized in the Worcester Business Journal’s Power 100. * Named to Becker’s Healthcare 2025 list of “Critical Access Hospital CEOs to Know” for her transformative leadership at Athol Hospital. * Honored with the Greater Gardner Unsung Hero Award (2025).
9. John Bujak (CFO): * Honored by Becker’s Hospital Review as a “CFO to Know”. Recognized as part of a Top 30 Highly Successful CEO-CFO Duo. Recipient of the Michael Gerry Unsung Hero Award (2025).
10. Kaleigh Maio (VP of Human Resources): Named a WBJ 40 Under Forty winner (Class of 2025) and a national Becker’s “Rising Star.”
11. Shane Doherty (VP of Operations): Named a “Supply Chain Leader to Know” by Becker’s Hospital Review.
12. Dayna Stahl (CNO): Honored as a “CNO to Know” by Becker’s Hospital Review