This month, Antelope Memorial Hospital received both a national and state award for excellence. The hospital was first recognized for the 2023 Performance Leadership Award for excellence in quality and patient perspective as part of the National Rural Health Day celebration. Compiled by The Chartis Center for Rural Health, the Performance Leadership Award honors top quartile performance (75th percentile or above) among rural hospitals across the United States in quality, outcome and patient perspective.

AMH was also recognized by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services as a 2023 Rural Provider Excellence in Quality Award recipient. This award honors the Top 10 overall performance in quality among Nebraska's 63 critical access hospitals. It also utilizes the framework of the Chartis Rural Hospital Performance INDEX to analyze measures of the Medicare Beneficiary Quality Improvement Project for each of the critical access hospitals in Nebraska. The analysis percentile ranks performance for each facility across nearly two dozen metrics and those facilities with the 10 highest scores are recognized with the Rural Provider Excellence in Quality Award.

"We are thrilled to receive these prestigious awards," said Diane Brugger, chief executive officer of Antelope Memorial Hospital. "The Performance Leadership Award and Rural Provider Excellence in Quality Award are both based on the results of the Chartis Rural Hospital Performance INDEX. It is the industry's most comprehensive and objective assessment of rural hospital performance. Chartis' INDEX data is trusted and relied upon by rural hospitals, health systems with rural footprints, hospital associations and state offices of rural health across the country to measure and monitor performance across several areas impacting hospital operations and finance."

"These awards truly reflect our commitment to providing a continuum of health care excellence for our patients," added Brugger. "We are focused on staying up to date with the latest education and health care strategies while remaining dedicated to the patient's overall care and best interests. We consider it an honor and privilege to be a part of our patients' health care plan while being in service to others. It is truly rewarding."

"Wherever we go in rural America, we witness firsthand the commitment, determination and compassion with which rural hospitals serve communities," said Michael Topchik, national leader of The Chartis Center for Rural Health. "Rural health care is truly mission driven. Let us recognize the efforts of this year's award winners and all those driven to deliver high quality care throughout rural communities."

Antelope Memorial Hospital offers quality medical care to approximately 8,000 area residents, located in Antelope County and surrounding areas. The population served is for all ages, ranging from newborns to the elderly. An emphasis is placed in meeting the patients' medical care needs with professionalism and compassion ‒ close to home.