Hospital receives prestigious award

At a March 13 Morrow County Hospital (MCH) celebration, Troy Brown, a network consultant and performance improvement specialist at The Chartis Center for Rural Health, reported on how MCH came to be designated as a Top 100 Critical Access Hospital out of 1,353 critical access hospitals in the United States.

In Brown’s PowerPoint presentation for community officials and hospital staff, he said one-third of rural hospitals were in the red 10 years ago, while half of rural hospitals now have negative margins.

“Morrow County Hospital has something to celebrate, considering what is going on with rural hospitals,” Brown said.

This is the second consecutive year MCH has ranked in the Top 100 Critical Access Hospitals with an index rank of 97.4 in its performance summary. Brown added MCH is the only critical access hospital in Ohio to be in the Top 100 out of 43 critical access and small community hospitals in Ohio.

Morrow County Hospital is also the only critical access hospital in Ohio with multiple years in the Top 100 for 2023 and 2024. MCH also had top quartile index outcomes in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.

MCH President Michael Hyek said, “The recognition means Morrow County Hospital has been successful in providing quality patient care, while at the same time making health care safe, convenient, affordable, and as close to home as possible. At a time when many rural hospitals are no longer able to keep their doors open and patients must travel a distance to get basic care, Morrow County Hospital has been fortunate to grow the programs and services we offer the community.”

The Chartis Rural Hospital Performance Index Brown described has been used for 14 years and is “strictly analytical.” The report for rural hospitals is based on the three areas of market, value and finance. Top 100 award winners are determined by the results of the Index.

The National Rural Health Association calls the Chartis Rural Hospital Performance Index “the health industry’s most comprehensive and objective assessment of rural hospital performance.”

Brown pointed to areas of value in the index where MCH stands out with high patient satisfaction (perspective) while cost and charges are much lower than the median. Finance is also superior for MCH with a rank of 98% capital efficiency. The hospital’s lowest area was in market share. Brown said this is likely due to several larger hospitals being close by in Marion and Galion. Most critical access hospitals are 35 miles or more from another hospital.

In a comparison of scores, the median in Ohio is 36 compared to MCH’s 97.4. The U.S. median is 59.3, while the Top 100 Critical Access Hospital median is 96.5.

The Chartis Index map of the United States shows the country has a rural health care crisis. One hundred and sixty-seven rural hospitals have either closed or converted to a model which excludes inpatient care. The highest loss of inpatient care tends to be in states without medicaid expansion and many of them are in southern states. Brown pointed out that in addition to those already closed, 418 rural hospitals are “vulnerable to closure.”

Brown was accompanied at the meeting by Ana Wiesse, who said she “crunches the numbers” for hospitals in the Chartis Index report. A team of six at Chartis includes Brown and Wiesse, focusing on rural and critical access hospitals. Chartis is a consulting firm for the health care industry.

The Chartis Rural Hospital Index is based entirely on public data for 1,300 critical care access hospitals and 800 community hospitals. The percentile ranks performance and data is updated three times per year.

Daniel Prokopf, director of Ohio Office of Rural Health, was also at the celebration to congratulate the hospital’s leadership and staff on their accomplishment as a Top 100 Critical Access Hospital.

Hyek thanked the “entire team of Morrow County Hospital associates for the care they provide patients every day. It is their commitment that leads to great outcomes for those we get the privilege of caring for and it is their commitment that leads to being named to the Top 100 Critical Access hospitals.”

Alberta Stojkovic is a correspondent for The Morrow County Sentinel. She can be reached at [email protected].