Scott Evans, PharmD, MHA, CEO of Keck Hospital of USC and USC Norris Cancer Hospital, was named Hospital CEO of the year at the Los Angeles Business Journal’s annual Healthcare Leadership Awards event held at the Millenium Biltmore Hotel on April 23.

“We recognize the importance in our communities and in our personal lives of local health-care leaders and we’re proud to name Scott Evans this year’s Hospital CEO award winner,” said Matthew Toledo, publisher and CEO of the Los Angeles Business Journal. “Scott’s remarkable leadership at Keck Medical Center of USC has helped transform health care for thousands of Los Angeles area residents and his commitment to quality care and employee satisfaction is the foundation for the growth of one of our area’s strongest university-based medical enterprises.”

Evans was honored along with 15 other health-care leaders in Los Angeles. The awards are given every year to recognize the accomplishments of individuals and organizations that have contributed to improving health-care delivery in Los Angeles.

“It’s a great honor to be recognized for being part of an organization dedicated to delivering compassionate patient care to those Southern Californians who seek help and hope for their serious health-care issues,” said Evans. “By honoring me, you honor our entire medical center team — the expert physicians, surgical teams, nurses, administrative staff and everyone who goes beyond exceptional medicine in what they do every day.”

Evans also told the crowd that it is exciting to be expanding health-care services in the greater Los Angeles area, including the recent move of Keck Medicine – Downtown Los Angeles clinic on 8th and Flower streets to reach more of the vital downtown business and residential audience.

The Los Angeles Business Journal honored Evans for his leadership of Keck Medical Center, one of the nation’s top university-based medical centers, through the transformation and evolution of health-care reform. Evans initiated a hospital department-specific balanced scorecard that measures quality outcomes, financial performance and service levels, and increases manager accountability. This created an alignment between department-specific objectives and the organization’s overall goals. Evans has also been a champion for the Commitment to Quality initiative and has redesigned the performance improvement process through creating a template for standardizing reporting.

Evans has been with USC for more than 10 years. Before being appointed CEO in 2012, Evans served as chief operating officer for Keck Hospital of USC and USC Norris Cancer Hospital for five years. He joined USC University Hospital (now Keck Hospital) in 2004 as the hospital’s director of pharmacy services and residency program director for the USC School of Pharmacy.

As an adjunct member of USC’s faculty, he developed several key pharmacist positions including specialists in psychiatry, infectious disease, ambulatory care and transplantation. Under his direction, the hospital was recognized by the National Patient Safety Congress for a pioneering patient safety project related to tele-pharmacy services in California.

Evans earned a doctor of pharmacy degree at the USC School of Pharmacy with post-graduate residency training at the Department of Veterans Affairs and the USC School of Pharmacy. He also earned an Executive Master of Health Administration from the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy and is working on his Ed.D. in organizational leadership at Pepperdine University.