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Mercy’s rural hospitals in Arkansas are celebrating National Rural Health Day as some of the best in the country at providing rural care.
The Chartis Center for Rural Health named Mercy hospitals in Berryville, Booneville, Ozark, Paris and Waldron to its 2024 Performance Leadership Award list, recognizing them as among the top 25% of rural hospitals across America with high scores in quality, outcomes and patient perspective. Mercy Hospital Paris, which was named among the top 20 critical access hospitals in the country earlier this year, leads the way with top scores in each category. Mercy Hospital Berryville and Mercy Hospital Waldron were recognized for quality and patient perspective, while Mercy Hospital Booneville and Mercy Hospital Ozark were cited for quality.
“The dedication of our caregivers is why we’re able to provide compassionate, exceptional care in rural areas,” said Juli Stec, Mercy’s vice president of patient services. “Our patients in these small towns appreciate being able to stay closer to home while receiving the same high-quality care you find in larger cities.”
“This most recent recognition from Chartis represents our team’s commitment to the community,” added Darren Caldwell, administrator at Mercy Hospital Berryville. “Our caregivers are honored to play such a big role in the care of our community, and they are to be recognized for the extraordinary work they do every day.”
The award is based on the results of the Chartis Rural Hospital Performance INDEX, a comprehensive and objective framework for assessing rural hospital performance. The benchmarks are used by rural health organizations to measure performance across multiple areas affecting operations and finance.
Mercy’s rural hospitals in Arkansas are multispecialty facilities, providing critical services to people in and outside of town. The hospitals’ emergency rooms, swing beds and other services are essential to keeping local patients safe and healthy in their own community.
“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, a Chartis network consultant. “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.”
National Rural Health Day
National Rural Health Day is organized by the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health, a membership association of state offices of health.
The third Thursday in November each year is designated as an opportunity to focus on the work at places like Mercy’s rural hospitals to provide comprehensive health care services outside of urban areas. Rural hospitals are often the only source of emergency or inpatient care for local residents.
Working to eliminate access limitations, provider shortages and other rural health care challenges helps ensure rural Americans can pursue their dreams, build businesses and contribute to the nation’s economic well-being.
Mercy has also long been a leader in virtual care, which helps fill gaps for rural health, reducing the need for patients to physically seek out care or reorient their lives to gain access to specialists. Mercy’s focus on virtual care began more than 10 years ago when it launched hospital-based telemedicine programs, giving Mercy a crucial head start as a national leader in virtual services.
