Over two dozen of Avera’s rural and community hospitals have earned a 2024 Performance Leadership Award for excellence. Compiled by The Chartis Center for Rural Health, the Performance Leadership Awards recognize top quartile performance (i.e., 75th percentile or above) among rural hospitals in the three categories of quality, outcomes and/or patient perspective. Avera hospitals receiving awards include: Avera Creighton Hospital, Creighton, Neb. – Quality Avera De Smet Memorial Hospital, De Smet, S.D. – Quality Avera Dells Area Hospital, Dell Rapids, S.D. – Quality and Patient Perspective Avera Granite Falls Health Center, Granite Falls, Minn. – Quality and Patient Perspective Avera Hand County Memorial Hospital, Miller, S.D. – Quality and Patient Perspective Avera Marshall Regional Medical Center, Marshall, Minn. – Outcomes Avera Merrill Pioneer Hospital, Rock Rapids, Iowa – Quality Avera Missouri River Health Center, Gettysburg, S.D. – Quality Avera Sacred Heart Hospital, Yankton, S.D. – Outcomes Avera St. Anthony’s Hospital, O’Neill, Neb. – Quality Avera St. Luke’s Hospital, Aberdeen, S.D. – Outcomes Avera St. Mary’s Hospital, Pierre, S.D. – Quality Avera St. Benedict Hospital, Parkston, S.D. – Quality and Patient Perspective Avera Tyler Hospital, Tyler, Minn. – Quality Avera Weskota Memorial Hospital, Wessington Springs, S.D. – Quality Community Memorial Hospital Avera, Redfield, S.D. – Quality and Patient Perspective Floyd Valley Healthcare, Le Mars, Iowa – Quality, Outcomes and Patient Perspective Hegg Health Center, Rock Valley, Iowa – Quality and Patient Perspective Lakes Regional Healthcare, Spirit Lake, Iowa – Quality Landmann-Jungman Memorial Hospital Avera, Scotland, S.D. – Quality Marshall County Healthcare Center Avera, Britton, S.D. – Quality and Patient Perspective Milbank Area Hospital Avera, Milbank, S.D. – Patient Perspective Osceola Regional Health Center, Sibley, Iowa – Quality Pipestone County Medical Center, Pipestone, Minn. – Quality and Patient Perspective Platte Health Center Avera, Platte, S.D. – Quality and Patient Perspective Regional Health Services of Howard County, Cresco, Iowa – Quality St. Michael’s Hospital Avera, Tyndall, S.D. – Quality Sioux Center Health, Sioux Center, Iowa – Quality and Patient Perspective Wagner Community Memorial Hospital Avera, Wagner, S.D. – Quality “Avera excels at rural health care, and this long list of awards is wonderful validation of the high quality care that’s provided in communities across the Upper Midwest. We’re proud of the hardworking teams at these hospitals and their dedication and commitment each and every day,” said Kevin Post, DO, Chief Medical Officer of Avera Health. The Performance Leadership Awards are based on the results of the Chartis Rural Hospital Performance INDEX®, a comprehensive and objective framework for assessing how rural hospitals are performing. INDEX benchmarks are relied upon by rural hospitals, health systems with rural footprints, hospital associations and state offices of rural health to measure performance across multiple areas impacting hospital operations and finance. “The Performance Leadership Awards capture the commitment, diligence, and innovation with which America’s rural hospitals approach the delivery of care within their communities,” said Troy Brown, Network Consultant, The Chartis Center for Rural Health. “It’s a tremendous honor to be able to recognize the efforts of this year’s award winners and celebrate their achievement as part of National Rural Health Day.”