Missouri Baptist Medical Center’s reputation for nursing excellence celebrated a historic new chapter with a shower of gold confetti, a toast of sparkling grape juice, and freshly printed signs proudly proclaiming the hospital’s “3-peat.”
MoBap, it was announced to an auditorium of enthusiastic nurses and hospital leaders in January, achieved Magnet with Distinction® for nursing excellence that exceeds national benchmarks across multiple categories. Magnet with Distinction is the highest honor achievable in the Magnet® designation by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), which is considered the gold standard for nursing excellence.
The honor marks MoBap’s third consecutive Magnet designation since 2016 and makes MoBap the first adult hospital in Missouri to achieve the Magnet with Distinction designation. MoBap was specifically recognized by the ANCC for exceeding national benchmarks in clinical outcomes, nursing education, nursing innovation, patient care coordination, patient education, and patient satisfaction.
“If you are at Missouri Baptist Medical Center, you are here for safe and high-quality care, and your experience needs to be amazing,” says Missouri Baptist Medical Center president Ann Abad. “Our nurses play a pivotal role in meeting that mission. This Magnet with Distinction recognition is an acknowledgement of each one of our nurses and their leaders. It’s also a message to the community we serve. Our nurses are supported to do the right thing for patients—and they do.”
“Missouri Baptist Medical Center has been a champion for nurses, the care they provide, and the ways they can advance their practice through research and innovation, and this is just affirmation of that,” says Tommye Austin, PhD, MBA, RN, BJC HealthCare East Region Chief Nursing Executive. “This is outstanding news, but knowing the work that takes place at MoBap, I’m not surprised.”
The Magnet Recognition Program® evaluates nursing practices worldwide, and applying for Magnet designation is a thorough and lengthy process. Hospitals are required to collect data reflecting the quality of care being provided and benchmark it against a national database. Hospitals can reapply for Magnet designation every four years, and the redesignation process is more strenuous than the initial designation, as hospitals must demonstrate sustained outcomes that outperform national benchmarks as well as continued support and commitment to nursing excellence.
Magnet with Distinction, which became eligible for hospitals to attain in 2023, recognizes hospitals that exceed scoring thresholds required to attain Magnet designation. The honor, according to the ANCC, is for hospitals that achieve “the highest levels of nursing excellence while addressing emerging challenges and changes in health care moving forward.”
“It’s an overwhelming recognition of the environment our nursing team has created, which is focused on outcomes in care,” says Patti Crimmins Reda, MSN, RN, CENP, Missouri Baptist Medical Center Chief Nursing Officer, Vice President Patient Care. “Sustainment is the hardest thing, because the bar gets higher and higher. It illustrates the focus our teams have on the process of patient care, owning their own careers, and ensuring that our care is at the very best level it can be.”
About 650 U.S hospitals—less than 10%—have Magnet designation. As of December 2025, only 68 had achieved Magnet with Distinction. BJC HealthCare is now home to two Magnet with Distinction recipients: Missouri Baptist Medical Center and St. Louis Children’s Hospital, which recently became the first children’s hospital in Missouri to earn Magnet with Distinction.
The care our nurses provide is exemplary,” says Amy Robinson, MSN, RN, NE-BC, System Director, Professional Practice & Clinical Education. “The patient experience they help create is excellent. With knowledge and expertise gained from the bedside, their innovation improves how we care for patients. Our nurses drive this, and we can keep going. A level of excellence is established. We can build on it.”
You can help Missouri Baptist Medical Center advance nursing excellence by thanking a nurse with a DAISY Award nomination, or by joining our team of dedicated nurses.