North Valley Hospital has been recognized as a top hospital in the nation for its focus on rural health.

The award comes from The Chartis Group, a leading healthcare advisory and analytics firm, and was also given to Kalispell Regional Medical Center, both for the second consecutive year.

North Valley Hospital was named a Top 100 Critical Access Hospital and Kalispell Regional Medical Center was named a Top 100 Rural & Community Hospital.

“We are proud to have two hospitals in our healthcare system in that special class of well-run hospitals,” says KRH President and CEO Dr. Craig Lambrecht. “I commend our employees, medical staff and management team for their hard work serving patients in rural Montana. This recognition is evidence of our team’s commitment to excellence in medical care and excellence in operations.”

Based entirely on publicly available data, the ratings are the industry’s most comprehensive and objective assessment of rural hospital performance, according to a release from both hospitals. Each year, The Chartis Group uses 50 independent indicators to assess performance across eight pillars. The top performers are those who excel in managing risk, achieving higher quality, securing better outcomes, increasing patient satisfaction, and operating at a lower cost than their peers.

Hospitals recognized as Top 100 facilities had one of the 100 highest overall scores among all rural and community hospitals nationally. Other facilities look to these top performers as benchmarks as they strive to achieve similar results.

“We are extremely honored to be recognized for the second year in a row in the Top 100 for Critical Access Hospitals,” said North Valley Hospital CEO Kevin Abel. “I’m incredibly proud of our team here at North Valley Hospital and for our commitment to patient care and serving our community.”