Everton Anderson, chief executive officer of the National Health Fund (NHF), is Jamaica’s 2024 awardee for the Management Institute for National Development’s (MIND) Public Life Award for Leadership Excellence.

He received his award in a ceremony held on Thursday, July 11, at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel.

After receiving the recognition, Anderson shared his motivation and thanked his team for supporting him throughout his tenure.

“Loving what I do has always been my motivation. I enjoy going into waiting rooms and hear a patient express satisfaction. It absolutely makes my day. I’d also like to thank my team. We dream big dreams, and I’ve never had pushback; in fact, most times they make my ideas better.”

In his capacity of CEO over the last 11 years, Anderson has led the NHF to major successes such as the re-engineering of the pharmaceutical warehouse, a redesign of the building, as well as a new Warehouse Management System to improve its capacity and service standards, the state agency said in a press release.

It noted that the CEO also expanded the certification of ISO 9001:2015 to the pharmaceutical services. In addition, the waiting time in the Drug Serv pharmacies was significantly reduced; and patients now have access to same-day NHFCard processing, the agency said.

In congratulating Anderson, Ruby Brown, chief executive officer of MIND said, “His exemplary leadership, demonstrated through dedicated service and significant impact on driving results and professionalism in the public sector, is truly commendable.”

She added, “He has further elevated the standards of governance and public service excellence in our country.”

Anderson meanwhile expressed his continued commitment to service.

“I accept this award as a call to even greater service and you can be sure that I will press even harder to serve the people of Jamaica.”