With roots that date back to 1916, the history of CHAMPS Group Purchasing is rich. We've been formally known as CHAMPS Group Purchasing for 20+ years, leveraging the purchasing power of 25,000+ U.S. member locations.

As the supply chain specialists, we offer significant savings in product categories including medical / surgical supplies, foodservice, IT, wireless, office supplies and facility maintenance. Together with our national GPO partner Premier, we support member supply chain initiatives through expertise in contract management, aggregation savings, supply chain technology, spend analytics and customized service.

Scroll through our timeline of important milestones below to learn more about CHAMPS Group Purchasing.

The Center for Health Affairs, CHAMPS Group Purchasing’s non-profit parent organization originally known as the Cleveland Hospital Council, became the first regional hospital association in the country and a model for similar organizations.

Complementing The Center for Health Affairs’ purpose, “to promote the efficiency of, and cooperation among the various interested hospitals to the end of better meeting the health needs of the community," Guy J. Clark developed The Center’s Cooperative Purchasing Service, one of the first such services in the nation, by building relationships between hospitals and vendors. His innovative approach to group purchasing set the stage for CHAMPS GPO, and led to state and national recognition.

The Center for Health Affairs established MAPS to provide a mechanism for group purchasing directors to work cooperatively.

CHAMPS’ relationship with Premier Inc. began 25+ years ago when CHAMPS became one of Premier’s leading healthcare group purchasing affiliate programs. Now, as an owner of Premier, CHAMPS continues to sponsor members from both health and non-health industries, allowing them access to more than 2,500 GPO contracts, $60+ billion in purchasing volume, GPO contract management and unparalleled customer service.

The sole-source distribution partnership between Premier and US Foods is more than 20 years old. What it means for CHAMPS members is access to more than 350,000 national brand products; foodservice discounts of more than 15%; and reliable, on-time deliveries across the country. We work with you to implement the program, reducing and controlling foodservice costs, while maintaining and even improving the quality of your foodservice program.

CHAMPS was honored to be named as one of The Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Top Workplaces in 2014, 2015 and 2021; ERC’s NorthCoast99 List in 2003, 2004, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017; Crain’s Cleveland Business and Best Companies Group’s Best Employers in Ohio in 2020 and 2021; and Modern Healthcare’s 2021 Best Places to Work in Healthcare. 

In the mid-2000s, CHAMPS began providing more than healthcare group purchasing by partnering with members in non-acute classes of trade. Today, CHAMPS serves 20,000+ member locations across the United States who represent healthcare, education, recreation, hospitality, business, industry and more.

The Client Services Team quickly evolved into a critical aspect of the value CHAMPS provides to customers. The Client Services Team is the essential link to 20,000+ member locations nationwide. They continuously identify and implement methods that assist customers in saving time while increasing their bottom line.

Premier went public on September 26, 2013, with an initial stock offering valued at $760.1 million. The IPO steered nearly 20 percent of the proceeds to the company for working capital. About three-quarters went to Premier's 181 member-owners, including CHAMPS GPO, in the form of stock that could be sold over seven years.

The aggregation of 500+ national agreements leverages the purchasing power of CHAMPS with national suppliers and manufacturers to negotiate better pricing tiers for members. In 2014, CHAMPS Group Purchasing and Capstone Health Alliance combined their strength in customer service and $6+ billion in GPO volume to maximize each members’ bottom line and drive supply-chain efficiencies. This unique collaboration incorporated Capstone’s acute-care expertise and contract aggregation initiatives, as well as CHAMPS’ continuum of care knowledge, non-acute volume and client service model to advance the power of supply chain for the thousands of Premier member locations they serve nationwide.

In June 2016, CHAMPS was recognized by Premier as one of their 26 Certified Sponsor Programs. This recognition denoted CHAMPS' commitment to affiliate and supplier engagement, as well as adherence to established best practices for running a successful affiliate program. 

Through its relationship with Premier Inc., CHAMPS began offering its members a MIPS reporting tool called MIPSwizard® - an online tool designed to help Merit-based Incentive Payment System-eligible clinicians quickly and easily complete MIPS reporting.

CHAMPS Group Purchasing launched a new standalone website in response to member satisfaction survey responses. By separating their website from champshealthcare.com, CHAMPS Group Purchasing created a better resource for members and suppliers with a clean, modern layout; quick access to important information; links to industry news; and contact information to stay in touch with the CHAMPS GPO team.