Piedmont recognized with top award

Piedmont Columbus Regional performs first Barostim heart procedure.(Daniel Purcell/Now Georgia.)

Piedmont Hospital, with locations across Georgia and Alabama, including Columbus, has been recognized on Fortune’s America’s Most Innovative Companies 2026 list, ranking No. 124 out of 300 organizations nationwide.

Piedmont is the only health system in Georgia to earn a place on the 2026 list and ranks within the Top 25 organizations in the health care industry. Piedmont stood out for its strength in innovation culture, the dimension that measures how well organizations foster entrepreneurship, creativity, and employee-driven initiative. This marks a significant rise from Piedmont’s 2023 ranking of No. 267, underscoring the organization’s continued commitment to innovation.

“This recognition reinforces Piedmont’s reputation as a forward-thinking healthcare organization committed to empowering its workforce and continuously improving care through innovation,” said Piedmont CEO Kevin Brown. “Piedmont is a national destination for clinical care. Underlying this is our culture and our values, which include a focus on continuous process improvement and ‘Embracing the Future.’”

Published for the fourth consecutive year by Fortune in partnership with data firm Statista, the annual ranking honors organizations that lead in creativity, technological advancement, and transformational change. Fortune and Statista evaluated companies across three core pillars: product innovation, process innovation, and innovation culture.

The methodology blends employee surveys, expert assessments from recruiters, consultants, and patent attorneys, and an analysis of patent quantity and value conducted in partnership with LexisNexis Intellectual Property Solutions.

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