Becky Pape, CEO of Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital, has been named as a finalist for the prestigious Shirley Ann Munroe Leadership Award from the American Hospital Association (AHA).

Pape was one of three runners-up for the award. Scott M. Street, president and CEO of Ducan Regional Hospital in Duncan, Okla., was named the winner earlier this month.

The AHA recognized Pape as a finalist for her leadership efforts to build the first medical school in Oregon in more than a century and locate it Lebanon. Western University of Health Sciences of Pomona, Calif., will operate the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific Northwest within the future Samaritan Health Sciences Campus, across from the Lebanon hospital.

Students will begin attending classes at the new school in 2011, and the school will help address physician shortage in the mid-valley and state.

Pape also helped develop the Health Career and Training Center to provide education for a variety of health care jobs. She also strongly supports the hospital's participation in the East Linn Community Health Improvement Partnership, which invests in community projects that provide a more healthful lifestyle for the citizens of Lebanon.

Shirley Ann Munroe was an advocate for small and rural hospitals and was instrumental in the creation of the AHA's Section for Small or Rural Hospitals, a forum working to support small and rural hospitals as they improve their community's health.

The AHA's Section for Small or Rural Hospitals and the Health Research and Educational Trust sponsor the award.  It is presented annually to a hospital administrator or chief executive officer who has displayed outstanding leadership in meeting the ongoing challenge of small or rural hospital management.