2025 Performance and Leadership Award for excellence from the Chartis Center for Rural Health.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - Several Avera rural and community hospitals received the 2025 Performance and Leadership Award for excellence from the Chartis Center for Rural Health.

This award honors top quartile performance (75th percentile or above) in quality, outcomes, and patient perspective among rural hospitals.

The Performance Leadership Awards are based on the Chartis Rural Hospital Performance INDEX®, a framework for evaluating rural hospital performance.

The INDEX benchmarks help rural hospitals, health systems, hospital associations, and state offices measure performance in areas that impact hospital operations and finance.

Avera hospitals receiving awards include:

• Avera Creighton Hospital, Creighton, NE
  • Quality
• Avera De Smet Memorial Hospital, De Smet, SD
  • Quality
• Avera Dells Area Hospital, Dell Rapids, SD
  • Quality and Patient Perspective
• Avera Gregory Hospital, Gregory, SD
  • Patient Perspective
• Avera Granite Falls Health Center, Granite Falls, MN
  • Quality
• Avera Hand County Memorial Hospital, Miller, SD
  • Quality, Outcomes, and Patient Perspective
• Avera Holy Family Hospital, Estherville, IA
  • Quality and Patient Perspective
• Avera Marshall Regional Medical Center, Marshall, MN
  • Quality and Outcomes
• Avera Merrill Pioneer Hospital, Rock Rapids, IA
  • Quality
• Avera St. Anthony's Hospital, O'Neill, NE
  • Quality
• Avera St. Benedict Hospital, Parkston, SD
  • Quality, Outcomes, and Patient Perspective
• Avera St. Luke's Hospital, Aberdeen, SD
  • Outcomes
• Avera St. Mary's Hospital, Pierre, SD
  • Outcomes
• Avera Tyler Hospital, Tyler, MN
  • Quality
• Community Memorial Hospital Avera, Redfield, SD
  • Quality and Patient Perspective
• Floyd Valley Hospital, Le Mars, IA
  • Outcomes
• Freeman Regional Health Services, Freeman, SD
  • Patient Perspective
• Hegg Health Center, Rock Valley, IA
  • Quality and Patient Perspective
• Landmann-Jungman Memorial Hospital, Avera, Scotland, SD
  • Quality
• Marshall County Healthcare Center Avera, Britton, SD
  • Quality and Patient Perspective
• Pipestone County Medical Center, Pipestone, MN
  • Patient Perspective
• Platte Health Center Avera, Platte, SD
  • Patient Perspective
• Regional Health Services of Howard County, Cresco, IA
  • Quality
• St. Michael's Hospital Avera, Tyndall, SD
  • Quality
• Sioux Center Health, Sioux Center, IA
  • Quality
• Wagner Community Memorial Hospital Avera, Wagner, SD
  • 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 areas of quality, outcomes, and patient perspective are cornerstones of health care delivery across rural America, and this year's Performance Leadership Award recipients are establishing a standard of excellence for their rural peers to follow," said Michael Topchik, Executive Director, Chartis Center for Rural Health.

"We are delighted to shine a spotlight on such strong performance and honor the achievement of these hospitals on National Rural Health Day."