SMI Announces BJC Health and Ryder System, Inc. as Recipients of the 2025 Tom Hughes Collaboration Award
Kingston, MA (November 17, 2025): SMI®, a non-profit, member-driven community of healthcare provider and industry partner organizations, presented BJC Health and Ryder System, Inc. with the 2025 Tom Hughes Collaboration Award at the SMI Fall 2025 Forum in Orlando, FL.
The SMI Tom Hughes Collaboration Award is in honor of the late Tom Hughes, SMI Executive Director from 2004 – 2021. This annual award, established in 2021, recognizes exceptional efforts of industry thought leaders collaborating to bring innovation, discovery, and improvements to the healthcare supply chain. See https://www.smisupplychain.com/programs/thca/ for more information.
SMI members BJC Health and Ryder were chosen for their collaboration to transform the healthcare supply chain through the creation of an industry-leading Consolidated Services Center (CSC). “With BJC’s visionary leadership and Ryder’s operational expertise, this collaboration exemplifies the spirit of this award – healthcare supply chain’s absolute best models of leaders working together to deliver patient-centric healthcare in a time of transformative change,” says Jane Pleasants, SMI President.
Launched from BJC’s 2019 vision to build a more efficient, patient-centric, and resilient supply chain, the collaboration combined BJC’s clinical and operational expertise with Ryder’s 90+ years of logistics innovation, technology, and cross-sector best practices. Together, both organizations designed and implemented a 416,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art distribution center that delivers 100% inventory control, 99% on-time delivery, and real-time supply chain visibility across the 14 hospitals, 3,300 beds, and 4,600 physicians in BJC’s East Region.
Tom Harvieux, BJC Senior Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Officer, said “To break industry norms of the past 20 years, we looked for innovation that could bring best practices from more mature supply chains, like automotive and high tech. In December 2020, we embarked on our transformational journey, and by that time, we were in the throes of a pandemic that reinforced the critical need for speed, agility, and resiliency.”
“It’s extraordinary – you can’t see where one team ends and the other begins,” said Ryder Senior Vice President of Supply Chain Solutions Cherie Brinkerhoff. “From frontline associates to executive leadership, everyone shares in BJC’s mission to improve patient care and save lives.”
To learn more about SMI and the Tom Hughes Collaboration Award, visit https://www.smisupplychain.com/programs/thca/
Pictured (left to right):Â Steve Gundersen, SMI Chair Emeritus, Tom Harvieux, SVP & Chief Supply Chain Officer & Jason Luby, VP Value Chain and Sourcing Operations, BJC Healthcare, Cherie Brinkerhoff, Senior Vice President Retail, Technology & Healthcare & Jeff Abeson, Vice President Business Development, Ryder System, Inc., Jane Pleasants, President, SMI
ABOUT SMI
SMI provides a nexus for healthcare providers, suppliers, and distributors to network and collaborate on innovations that drive meaningful improvements in supply chain agility, efficiency, and resilience. We provide a unique, non-commercial community where members forge long-term relationships as they work together to improve patient care. For more information about SMI, including a complete list of members, visit: www.smisupplychain.com.