Prairie Lakes Healthcare System Earns State Recognition for Outcomes Excellence

Prairie Lakes Healthcare System was honored with the Performance Leadership Award 2025, powered by Chartis, as announced by Northeast Radio SD.

Northeast Radio SD News - Watertown, SD - Prairie Lakes Healthcare System (PLHS), a division of Sanford Health, has been recognized for outstanding performance, earning a 2025 Performance Leadership Award for excellence in outcomes. The award, compiled by The Chartis Center for Rural Health, highlights PLHS's status among the top quartile of rural hospitals nationwide.

The recognition was announced on National Rural Health Day, underscoring the critical role rural hospitals play in their communities. PLHS was one of only six hospitals in South Dakota to be explicitly recognized in the outcomes category.

“Our physicians, nurses, and staff consistently go above and above to ensure our patients receive exceptional care close to home,” said John Allen, president and CEO of PLHS. “This award underscores our commitment to serving our rural communities with compassion, quality, and trust.”

The Performance Leadership Awards program utilizes the Chartis Rural Hospital Performance INDEX®, a comprehensive framework that assesses rural hospital performance across multiple areas, including quality, outcomes, and patient perspective. These benchmarks are widely used by health systems and state rural health offices to measure performance.

Michael Topchik, executive director of the Chartis Center for Rural Health, commended the recipients, stating that the winners are “establishing a standard of excellence for their rural peers to follow.”