Prairie Lakes Healthcare System Honored With 2025 Performance Leadership Award by the Chartis Center for Rural Health

As part of National Rural Health Day yesterday, Prairie Lakes Healthcare System (PLHS), a division of Sanford Health, earned a 2025 Performance Leadership Award for excellence in outcomes. Compiled by The Chartis Center for Rural Health, the Performance Leadership Awards program recognizes top quartile performance among rural hospitals in quality, outcomes and/or patient perspective. PLHS is one of six South Dakota hospitals recognized in the outcomes category.

“Our physicians, nurses and staff consistently go above and beyond 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 is 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 areas of quality, outcomes and patient perspective are cornerstones of health care delivery across rural America, and this year’s Performance Leadership Award recipients are establishing a standard of excellence for their rural peers to follow,” said Michael Topchik, executive director, Chartis Center for Rural Health.

To view more PLHS awards and achievements, please visit prairielakes.com/our-achievements/.