Situated in a county of under 2,000 within a municipality of less than 1,000 population, most people familiar with the health care campus in Wessington Springs recognize it as a unique asset that anchors the City at the Foothills. With a critical access hospital, medical and dental clinic, nursing home and senior apartments all housed under one roof, the campus has served thousands of patients over the decades and continues to be an attractive amenity and economic driver for the community.
A recent announcement by Avera points to more reason to celebrate local health care as Avera Weskota Memorial Hospital was named the recipient of a 2024 Performance Leadership Award for Excellence in Quality.
“The community regularly expresses gratitude about the close-to-home access to health they enjoy. With this award, not only do we have a hospital here but when it comes to care, we have been recognized with providing a high quality level of care,” said Stephanie Reasy, Administrator/CEO of Avera Weskota Memorial Hospital. “It really speaks to the fact that we have a very skilled team of staff and providers right here in Wessington Springs.”
Compiled by The Chartis Center for Rural Health, the Performance Leadership Awards recognize top quartile performance (75th percentile or above) among rural hospitals in the three categories of quality, outcomes and/or patient perspective. Among the 29 Avera hospitals receiving awards, Avera Weskota Memorial Hospital was recognized specifically for quality.
“Avera excels at rural health care, and this long list of awards is wonderful validation of the high quality care that’s provided in communities across the Upper Midwest. We’re proud of the hardworking teams at these hospitals and their dedication and commitment each and every day,” said Kevin Post, DO, Chief Medical Officer of Avera Health.
The Performance Leadership Awards are based on the results of the Chartis Rural Hospital Performance INDEX, a comprehensive and objective framework for assessing how rural hospitals are performing. INDEX benchmarks are relied upon by rural hospitals, health systems with rural footprints, hospital associations and state offices of rural health to measure performance across multiple areas impacting hospital operations and finance.
“The Performance Leadership Awardscapturethecommitment, diligence, and innovation with which America’s rural hospitals approach the delivery of care within their communities,” said Troy Brown, Network Consultant, The Chartis Center for Rural Health. “It’s a tremendous honor to be able to recognize the efforts of this year’s award winners.”
Offering in-patient, acute and swing bed patient care, the hospital also provides outpatient services, physical therapy and IV treatments.
Reasy said that the hospital has a wide variety of telemedicine services and encourages local patients to ask if there are additional services they can receive without having to travel out of town.
“We can look at what other telemedicine services we can offer so patients can come right into hospital instead of driving all the way to Sioux Falls,” Reasy said, adding that quality spans across all services offered by the hospital. “We are always looking at what services the community is wanting us to provide.”