Lake Region Healthcare (LRH) has announced that its hospitals in Fergus Falls and in Elbow Lake both are recognized in the Chartis Center for Rural Health 2026 Top 100 rankings. Chartis’ annual Top 100 award program celebrates outstanding performance among the nation’s rural hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals based on the results of the Chartis Rural Hospital Performance INDEX®. While both hospitals have ranked among the Top 100 in prior years, this marks the first time both have achieved the recognition in the same year. 

“Our patient care teams deserve every bit of this recognition and more. They are at the heart of the high quality care our patients rely on every day. This merit based distinction from Chartis also reinforces the value of the work we undertook last year to bring our two rural hospitals together as a unified system. This strategic integration strengthens access to high quality healthcare and helps preserve essential services in our rural communities,” said Kent Mattson, LRH CEO. “We will continue to innovate and optimize services across both facilities to deploy clinical expertise more efficiently and ensure patients at either location receive timely, exceptional care.”

“The delivery of care within rural communities is perhaps more complex today than at any point in recent memory. This year’s Top 100 Critical Access Hospitals have emerged as true leaders – committed to their mission through a powerful combination of resilience, dedication and innovation,” said Michael Topchik, Executive Director of The Chartis Center for Rural Health. “We’re delighted to recognize this year’s winners and celebrate their Top 100 status.”

Now in its 16th year, the INDEX is the industry’s most comprehensive and objective assessment of rural hospital performance. Leveraging publicly available data, the INDEX is utilized nationwide by rural hospitals, health systems with rural affiliates, hospital associations, and state offices of rural health to measure and monitor performance across a variety of areas impacting hospital operations, quality, patient perspective and finance.

About the Lake Region Healthcare Enterprise

The Lake Region Healthcare (LRH) enterprise is an independent, community owned and governed, non-profit healthcare organization with administrative offices in Fergus Falls and Elbow Lake. With facilities in nine communities, the midsized rural health system primarily serves five counties in west central Minnesota and eastern North Dakota. 

The enterprise operates two hospitals (in Fergus Falls and Elbow Lake), eight clinics, a cancer center, a senior living community (Mill Street Residence), and various other health and wellness related ventures. With over 1,100 employees and 120 Physicians and Advance Practice Providers, we are dedicated to serving the healthcare needs of our communities close to home and delivering specialty and sub-specialty services at their locations in Fergus Falls, Elbow Lake, Ashby, Barnesville, Battle Lake, Evansville, Herman, Hoffman, and Morris, Minn. 

For more information visit: www.lrhc.org and www.millstreet.lrhc.org.