Laird Hospital Named to Top 20 Critical Access Hospital List

May 23, 2018

Laird Hospital in Union, Mississippi was recently named one of the Top 20 Critical Access Hospitals for Best Practices in Patient Satisfaction in the nation.

The Top 20 Critical Access Hospitals, including Laird Hospital, scored best among critical access hospitals as determined by The Chartis Center for Rural Health for patient satisfaction. The rankings were recently announced by the National Rural Health Association (NRHA).

“Rush Health Systems is proud of the efforts of Laird Hospital’s physicians and staff who have contributed to achieving this designation,” said Chuck Reece, Senior Vice President for Rush Health Systems.

The Top 20 Critical Access Hospital “winners” are those hospitals who have achieved success in the overall performance based on a composite rating from eight indices of strength: inpatient market share, outpatient market share, quality, outcomes, patient perspectives, cost, charge and financial stability. This group was selected from The Chartis Center for Rural Health’s 2018 Top 100 CAH list, which was released earlier this year.

Those hospitals that have been recognized as Top 20 Critical Access Hospital “best practice recipients” have achieved success in one of two key areas of performance:

Quality index: A rating of hospital performance based on the percentile rank across the five categories of Hospital Compare Process of Care measures.
Patient perspective index: A rating of hospital performance based on the percentile rank on two Hospital Compare HCAHPS measures (“Overall Rating” and “Highly Recommend)”.

“Our health systems motto of being our brother’s keeper drives the work that we do for each patient,” said Tommy Bartlett, Administrator of Laird Hospital. “Our results as a Top Critical Access Hospital for Best Practices in Patient Satisfaction means our community can count on us to deliver the services they need now and in the future.”

Fred Duggan, MD, Chief Medical Officer for Rush Health Systems said, “Quality healthcare is of high importance to Rush Health Systems, and we are proud of Laird Hospital’s commitment to excellence.

Laird Hospital will be recognized at an awards ceremony during the NRHA’s Critical Access Hospital Conference in September in Kansas City, MO.

Rush Health Systems is the largest, most diverse medical system in East Mississippi and West Alabama. With a 103-year legacy of medical innovation, quality care and service to others, Rush Health Systems is comprised of 7 hospitals and 26 primary care clinics, with 250 staff and contracted physicians and 95 advance-practice providers. Rush is the largest non-governmental employer in the region. Rush Health Systems includes Rush Foundation Hospital in Meridian, MS; The Specialty Hospital of Meridian, MS; Medical Foundation, Inc., Laird Hospital, Union, MS; H.C. Watkins Hospital, Quitman, MS; Scott Regional Hospital, Morton, MS; John C. Stennis Memorial Hospital, DeKalb, MS, and Choctaw General Hospital in Butler, AL. For more information, please visit rushhealthsystems.org and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.