Prairie Lakes Healthcare System was recently recognized as a top-ranked hospital in the country for the value it provides to the community. Prairie Lakes received the Community Five Star® designation based on its performance in the following areas: financial viability and plant reinvestment, hospital cost structure, hospital charge structure and hospital quality performance.
“We are honored to be named a Community Value Five Star® hospital,” said Jill Fuller, CEO of Prairie Lakes Healthcare System. “We strive to provide high quality, affordable and compassionate healthcare to people living in Watertown and surrounding communities. This award exemplifies the work we do daily to not only provide the best healthcare and bring critical specialty services to the region, but to do so while remaining financially strong and investing in our infrastructure, the continuum of care and the communities we serve.
The study was completed by Cleverley + Associates, a leading healthcare financial consulting firm specializing in operational benchmarking and performance enhancement strategies. The study is based on the Community Value Index® (CVI). The CVI is a proprietary index created to offer a measure of the value that a hospital provides to its community.
The study groups hospitals into five comparison groups based on size and teaching or non-teaching status. Prairie Lakes was in the largest comparison group with a total of 1,413 hospitals. To be designated a Community Value Five Star® hospital, Prairie Lakes ranked in the top 20 percent when compared to other hospitals.
“The topic of hospital value is increasingly being discussed. Issues of pricing and community benefit have been well-publicized but little has been offered to measure the broad scope of value,” said James Cleverley, co-author of the study. “In response, the Community Value Index® was created to provide an assessment of a hospital’s performance. Fundamentally,
the CVI suggests that a hospital provides value to the community when it is financially viable, is appropriately reinvesting back into the facility, maintains a low cost structure, has reasonable charges and provides high quality care to patients.”
Prairie Lakes Healthcare System is an independent, not-for-profit hospital serving a 10-county region in northeast South Dakota and western Minnesota. It is governed by a volunteer, 15-member board of directors who reside in the service area.