Dennis Popp, the chief operating officer at Enumclaw Regional Hospital since 1985, was awarded the prestigious Joe Hopkins Memorial Award for outstanding leadership by the Washington State Hospital Association in Seattle on Oct. 8.

During his 40-year career, Popp has worked with true compassion and a passion for the challenges of rural health care.

The Joe Hopkins Award is named after the former hospital association chair and hospital administrator who lost his battle with cancer in 1987. The award was created in honor of Hopkins’s outstanding leadership and special qualities of warmth, persistence, insight, hardworking attitude and humor. It recognizes individuals who exhibit similar qualities in service to hospitals in Washington State.

Popp represented Enumclaw Regional Hospital during merger negotiations with the Tacoma-based Franciscan Health System in 2007. Through his leadership, the long-term future of high-quality health care in his community was secured through the hospital’s historic affiliation with Franciscan in May 2007. Construction of a 90,000-square-foot-replacement Enumclaw hospital is already underway. The new facility, scheduled to open in 2010, will feature all the services the community hospital now provides and be supported by the newest imaging and medical technology.

“At this time, in this industry, in this state, we need people like Dennis. He is a model of compassion, hard work and real solutions,” said Leo Greenawalt, president of the Washington State Hospital Association. “We are thrilled to recognize Dennis’s devotion to strengthening rural health care and to building a stronger community, both inside and outside the hospital.”

At the award ceremony on Wednesday, Popp was also recognized for his involvement in hospital association committees, the Northwest Washington Hospital Council, and as board member of the Washington Hospital Worker Compensation Trust. He has served on the hospital association’s Rural Hospital Committee and on the board of the Rural Healthcare Quality Network. In addition, he has always encouraged his hospital’s board members to participate in hospital association activities and to be engaged in creating a high-quality health care system statewide.

“I am deeply honored to have received this very special award,” said Popp, who was unaware that he was the award recipient until his name was announced at the ceremony. “This is another opportunity to emphasize the vital need to provide accessible health care services conveniently in rural communities.”

Before joining Enumclaw Regional Hospital in 1985, Popp held administrative positions at Valley Medical Center in Renton and Ballard Community Hospital in Seattle. His education includes a Master’s in Healthcare Administration degree from the University of Minnesota and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Augustana College in Rock Island, Il.

His community involvements include serving as chairman of the Northwest Kidney Centers; as president of the Enumclaw Chamber of Commerce; and as chair of the Health Services Consortium Steering Committee.

Enumclaw Regional Hospital, which opened in 1949, is one of five hospitals in Franciscan Health System. The others are St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, St. Francis Hospital in Federal Way, St. Clare Hospital in Lakewood, and St. Anthony Hospital in Gig Harbor (opens in early 2009).

The Washington State Hospital Association (WSHA) represents all of Washington’s 98 community hospitals. The association takes a major leadership role in issues that affect delivery, quality, accessibility, affordability and continuity of health care. It works to improve the health status of the residents of Washington State. WSHA is online at www.wsha.org.