Stephen Howard of Franklin, chairman of Beaumont Health System’s board of directors since Jan. 2011, has been named Trustee of the Year by Modern Healthcare magazine.

He was one of four health care trustees recognized across the nation in the magazine’s Feb. 11 issue and the winner in the not-for-profit health care system award category.

“I can’t think of anyone more deserving of this award than Steve,” says Gene Michalski, president and CEO, Beaumont Health System. “His dedication to Beaumont goes well above and beyond the call of duty of a board member. His strategic leadership will leave a lasting legacy benefiting Beaumont patients, the Southeastern Michigan community and the health care community across the nation.”

Howard has served the Beaumont organization as a trustee or board member for 18 years. During this time, he’s chaired five board committees, served as a member of nine others and also served on the Beaumont Foundation board. He and his wife Diana have supported Beaumont through generous philanthropic gifts.

Howard is a retired automotive business entrepreneur who successfully built and sold five manufacturing companies as founder, president and CEO of the Spearhead Group. He also served as president/CEO of Flow Robotic Systems in Wixom and provides global consulting services to other manufacturing companies and boards of directors through the Spearhead Group of Franklin.

During his years as a Beaumont board director and chairman, Howard has been instrumental in:

• Beaumont’s decision to expand its geographic footprint by adding a third hospital to its system with the acquisition of the former Bon Secours hospital in Grosse Pointe in 2007
• Beaumont’s partnership with Oakland University on the establishment of the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine that welcomed its first class of students in August 2011
• The health system’s dramatic financial recovery – from its first-ever operating loss in 2008 to its best financial year ever in 2012
• Recruitment of new board members with diverse backgrounds and experiences – and adding Beaumont’s three chief nurse executives and three elected medical staff presidents to the board
• Supporting Beaumont’s rise to national leadership as a high quality, low cost, high value health care provider – including recognition by U.S. News & World Report, United HealthSystem Consortium and membership in the High Value Healthcare Collaborative

“Beaumont is a remarkable organization with an outstanding management team and a staff that is truly dedicated to serving our patients and the community,” says Howard. “It’s been my pleasure to be a part of Beaumont’s success.”

The proposed merger of Beaumont and Henry Ford Health System may be Howard’s greatest accomplishment. He formed and led a Beaumont board task force to explore strategic options. This led to Beaumont’s decision to conduct a national search for a potential partner, resulting in the system’s selection of Henry Ford.

The two systems announced the signing of a letter of intent to merge their operations into a new $6.4 billion organization last Oct. 31.

Howard calls it a “transformative partnership” driven by dramatic changes in health care that will result in the creation of a new model health system for the nation.

He is a graduate of Michigan State University with a juris doctor degree from the University of Detroit School of Law.

About Beaumont Health System
Beaumont Health System is a three-hospital regional health system with 1,726 licensed beds, more than 14,000 full-time equivalent employees and nearly 3,100 physicians, including 500 employed physicians in the Beaumont Medical Group and more than 2,600 private-practice physicians. In addition to its hospitals in Royal Oak, Troy and Grosse Pointe, Beaumont has 54 community-based sites of care including medical centers in Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties, family practice and internal medicine practices, five nursing centers, home care services and hospice. The Beaumont Research Institute has 1,100 active research studies with more than 82,000 participants. Beaumont is the exclusive clinical teaching site for the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine. Visit Beaumont on the Web at www.beaumont.edu.