James Turnbull, chief information officer (CIO) at the Salt Lake City-based University of Utah Health Care (UUHC), has been selected as the recipient of the 2012 John E. Gall, Jr. CIO of the Year Award by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). Turnbull will receive the award at the 2013 Annual HIMSS Conference and Exhibition in New Orleans on March 5.

The award recognizes healthcare IT executives who have made significant contributions to their organization and demonstrated innovative leadership through effective use of technology. It is named in honor of the late John E. Gall Jr., who pioneered implementation of the first fully integrated medical information system in the world at California's El Camino Hospital in the 1960s.

“John Gall would no doubt be impressed with the great work that is being done by today’s CIOs, in partnership with their staff and vendor partners, to address the healthcare challenges of our nation,” Turnbull said in a statement.  “While just one person has the humbling experience of accepting this award, it is truly a tribute to the commitment and dedication of all who are leveraging technology and process change to drive out costs, support research, and improve outcomes for our patients and communities.”

Turnbull’s distinguished career in the healthcare industry spans more than 37 years, split between the Canadian and American health systems. His accomplishments include the deployment of electronic medical records (EMRs) and installation of CPOE at three different health systems with three different vendor products.

Prior to joining UUHC­—the intermountain west’s largest academic health care system—Turnbull served as senior vice president and CIO at The Children’s Hospital in Denver from 2000-2007, and senior vice president and CIO at Sarasota Memorial Hospital from 1993-2000. Under Turnbull’s leadership, both UUHC and The Children’s Hospital in Denver received Most Wired honors by Health Forum and H&HN magazine. Children’s was also recognized for its advancement of EMRs by KLAS as the Most Integrated Children’s Hospital in 2007. Additionally, Turnbull is the 1996 and 1998 recipient of Computerworld magazine’s Smithsonian Award.

“Over the past three decades it has been amazing to watch the transition from paper to a digital world in the health care industry,” said Turnbull. “Today, it is equally exciting to see information management take center stage as we reshape our industry in response to consumer expectations, clinical innovation and health reform.”