Baystate Health’s Judith Ward Earns Top Healthcare Management Credential

SPRINGFIELD — Judith Ward, vice president of Marketing and Communications at Baystate Health, has been certified as a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), the nation’s leading professional society for healthcare leaders.

“The healthcare-management field plays a vital role in providing high-quality care to the people in our communities, which makes having a standard of excellence promoted by a professional organization critically important,” said Deborah Bowen, president and CEO of ACHE. “By becoming an ACHE fellow and earning the distinction of board certification from ACHE, healthcare leaders demonstrate a commitment to excellence in serving their patients and the community.”

Fellow status is a privilege to bear the FACHE credentials, which signify board certification in healthcare management. Only 8,866 healthcare executives hold this distinction. To obtain fellow status, candidates must fulfill multiple requirements, including meeting academic and experiential criteria, earning continuing-education hours, demonstrating professional and community involvement, and passing a comprehensive examination, which Ward completed in November. Fellows also are committed to ongoing professional development and undergo recertification every three years.

Ward also recently was named a Top Hospital Marketer of the Year by Xpectives.Health, a leading conference, training, and publishing company for the consumer marketing of hospitals, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare products. She joined only 25 recipients from the Northeast to receive the award. Honorees were judged based on industry reputation, accomplishments, innovation, and notoriety among their peers, partners, and media.

At Baystate Health, Ward oversees marketing, digital/web, communications, social media, creative services, loyalty programs, and special events at the Springfield-based health system, which includes hospitals in Springfield, Greenfield, Palmer, and Westfield, along with more than 100 medical practices at some 80 locations throughout Western Mass.

She came to Baystate Health in 2018 from Stanford Health Care in Palo Alto, Calif., where she was the administrative director of Marketing Strategy, leading the organization’s strategic marketing efforts, developing award-winning advertising campaigns, and executing engaging Facebook Live strategies.

Prior to her role at Stanford, she served as vice president of Network Marketing for Danbury Hospital and Western Connecticut Health Network, where she led the brand creation and strategy for the newly-formed health network. She also served as principal of Judith Ward Associates, providing consulting services centered on the development and execution of strategic digital-marketing plans.

Ward holds an MBA with a marketing concentration from UConn and a bachelor’s degree from the University of New Hampshire. She has served as an adjunct professor in the Master of Health Administration program at Western Connecticut State University and Marlboro College in Vermont. She is a member of American College of Healthcare Executives, the Society for Healthcare Strategy & Market Development, and the Healthcare Executives Forum.