West Holt Medical Services Among Top 20 Critical Access Hospitals for Patient Satisfaction

ATKINSON, NE — West Holt Medical Services (WHMS) was recently named one of the Top 20 Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) for Patient Satisfaction in the nation.

The Top 20 Critical Access Hospitals, including WHMS, scored best among 1,300 critical access hospitals in the nation as determined by The Chartis Center for Rural Health for Patient Satisfaction. The rankings were recently announced by the National Rural Health Association (NRHA). An awards ceremony will be held during NRHA’s Critical Access Hospital Conference in September in Kansas City, Mo.

The Top 20 Critical Access Hospital “winners” are those hospitals who have achieved success in the overall performance based on a composite rating from eight pillars of strength: inpatient market share, outpatient market share, quality, outcomes, patient perspective, cost, charge and financial efficiency. This group was selected from The Chartis Center for Rural Health’s 2020 Top 100 CAH list, which was released earlier this year.

Those hospitals that have been recognized as Top 20 Critical Access Hospital “best practice recipients” have achieved success in one of two key areas of performance:

• Quality index: A rating of hospital performance based on the percentile rank across the indicators of Hospital Compare Process of Care measures.
• Patient perspective index: A rating of hospital performance aggregated and ranked across 10 domains of the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS).

“This designation is certainly a testament to the dedication of our healthcare team to provide the highest quality of patient care to our rural communities,” said Jeremy Bauer, Interim CEO and Chief Financial Officer at West Holt Medical Services.

Quality Improvement and Infection Prevention Coordinator, Talya Shutt, RN has been instrumental in leading the team through a robust Quality Improvement Plan to reach the Top 20 Critical Access Hospital achievement.

“Each individual at West Holt Medical Services contributed to this achievement. Patient satisfaction relies on teamwork, communication, shared decision making, empathy, compassion and the human connection,” Shutt shared.

“Here at West Holt Medical Services, we strive to make each patient experience personal, to relate to each patient as a person, and not just a medical condition or room number. I am very proud and appreciative of each member of our team," added Shutt.

About West Holt Medical Services
West Holt Medical Services is a 17-bed critical access hospital and rural health clinic offering 24-hour access to inpatient and emergency services. With approximately 100 employees on staff, West Holt Medical Services provides comprehensive community-based healthcare to a population of more than 10,000 area residents in North Central Nebraska. An on-campus retail pharmacy, on-site diagnostic testing and outpatient services make it possible for patients to receive quality healthcare close to home. 

About the National Rural Health Association
NRHA is a nonprofit organization working to improve the health and wellbeing of rural Americans and providing leadership on rural health issues through advocacy, communications, education and research. NRHA membership is made up of 21,000 diverse individuals and organizations, all of whom share the common bond of an interest in rural health. For more information, visit RuralHealthWeb.org.

About the Chartis Group
The Chartis Group® (Chartis) provides comprehensive advisory services and analytics to the healthcare industry. With an unparalleled depth of expertise in strategic planning, performance excellence, informatics and technology, and health analytics, Chartis helps leading academic medical centers, integrated delivery networks, children's hospitals and healthcare service organizations achieve transformative results. Chartis has offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, New York, Minneapolis and San Francisco. For more information, visit chartis.com.