The Chartis Center for Rural Health released its annual list of the top 100 critical access hospitals in the U.S. on February 12.

To determine the 2025 list, the firm used the Chartis Rural Hospital Performance INDEX, which assesses performance in inpatient market share, outpatient market share, quality, outcomes, patient perspective, cost, charge and finance.

Here are the top 100 critical access hospitals in the U.S., listed by state:

Arkansas

• Mercy Hospital Paris

Colorado

• East Morgan County Hospital (Brush)
• Kit Carson County Memorial Hospital (Burlington)
• Mt. San Rafael Hospital (Trinidad)
• Rio Grande Hospital (Del Norte)
• Wray Community District Hospital

Florida

• Calhoun Liberty Hospital (Blountstown)

Iowa

• Cass Health (Atlantic)
• CHI Health Missouri Valley
• Clarke County Hospital (Osceola)
• Floyd Valley Healthcare (Le Mars)
• Greater Regional Medical Center (Creston)
• Grundy County Memorial Hospital (Grundy Center)
• Hancock County Memorial Hospital (Britt)
• Loring Hospital (Sac City)
• UnityPoint Health Jones Regional Medical Center (Anamosa)
• Van Diest Medical Center (Webster City)
• Washington County Hospital (Washington)

Idaho

• Shoshone Medical Center (Kellogg)
• St. Luke’s Wood River Medical Center (Ketchum)

Kansas

• Artesian Valley Health System (Meade)
• Clay County Medical Center (Clay Center)
• Community Memorial Healthcare (Marysville)
• Fredonia Regional Hospital
• Hodgeman County Health Center (Jetmore)
• Morris County Hospital (Council Grove)
• Nemaha Valley Community Hospital (Seneca)
• Patterson Health Center (Anthony)
• Rooks County Health Center (Plainville)
• Sabetha Community Hospital

Louisiana

• Ochsner St. Anne Hospital (Raceland)

Massachusetts

• Fairview Hospital (Great Barrington)

Maine

• Stephens Memorial Hospital (Norway)

Minnesota

• Avera Granite Falls Health Center
• CentraCare – Redwood Hospital (Redwood Falls)
• Kittson Healthcare (Hallock)
• Lake View Hospital (Two Harbors)
• Mayo Clinic Health System – St. James
• Mayo Clinic Health System – Waseca
• Meeker County Memorial Hospital (Litchfield)
• New Ulm Medical Center (New Ulm)
• Olivia Hospital & Clinic
• Pipestone County Medical Center & Family Clinic Avera (Pipestone)
• Riverwood Healthcare Center (Aitkin)

Missouri

• Carroll County Memorial Hospital (Carrollton)
• Community Hospital Fairfax
• Cox Barton County Hospital (Lamar)
• Pike County Memorial Hospital (Louisiana)

Montana

• Barrett Hospital & HealthCare (Dillon)
• Bitterroot Health – Daly Hospital (Hamilton)
• Central Montana Medical Center (Lewistown)
• Community Hospital of Anaconda

North Dakota

• CHI Mercy Health of Valley City
• CHI St. Alexius Health Carrington Medical Center
• Jamestown Regional Medical Center
• Langdon Prairie Health
• Sanford Mayville Medical Center
• South Central Health (Wishek)
• Towner County Medical Center (Cando)

Nebraska

• Antelope Memorial Hospital (Neligh)
• Avera St. Anthony’s Hospital (O’Neill)
• Beatrice Community Hospital & Health Center
• Boone County Health Center (Albion)
• Brodstone Healthcare (Superior)
• CHI Health St. Mary’s (Nebraska City)
• Community Medical Center (Falls City)
• Crete Area Medical Center
• Howard County Medical Center (Saint Paul)
• Jefferson Community Health & Life (Fairbury)
• Johnson County Hospital (Tecumseh)
• Melham Medical Center (Broken Bow)
• Memorial Health Care Systems (Seward)
• Phelps Memorial Health Center (Holdrege)
• Thayer County Health Services (Hebron)

Oklahoma

• Mercy Hospital Watonga

Oregon

• Grande Ronde Hospital
• St. Charles Prineville

South Dakota

• Avera Hand County Memorial Hospital (Miller)
• Hans P. Peterson Memorial Hospital (Philip)
• Madison Regional Health

Texas

• Lavaca Medical Center (Hallettsville)
• Moore County Hospital District (Dumas)
• Olney Hamilton Hospital
• Reeves Regional Health (Pecos)

Utah

• Central Valley Medical Center (Nephi)
• Garfield Memorial Hospital (Panguitch)

Virginia

• Page Memorial Hospital (Luray)

Wisconsin

• Black River Memorial Hospital (Black River Falls)
• Mayo Clinic Health System – Red Cedar (Menomonie)
• Memorial Hospital of Lafayette County (Darlington)
• River Falls Area Hospital
• ThedaCare Medical Center – Shawano
• Upland Hills Health (Dodgeville)
• Western Wisconsin Health (Baldwin)
• Westfields Hospital & Clinic (New Richmond)

West Virginia

• Grant Memorial Hospital (Petersburg)
• Hampshire Memorial Hospital (Romney)

Wyoming

• North Big Horn Hospital (Lovell)
• Star Valley Health (Afton)
• Washakie Medical Center (Worland)

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released updated information on vaccine payment policies for Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs). Effective January 1, 2025, CMS Hepatitis B vaccines are paid like other Part B preventive vaccines. New claim-based payments for Part B preventive vaccines and their administration are effective July 1, 2025. RHCs and FQHCs will need to annually reconcile payments with the facilities’ actual vaccine and vaccine administration costs on their cost reports. Get more information from CMS.gov.

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services published the guidelines on household income that determine eligibility for Medicaid and a number of other Federal programs.

President Donald Trump’s executive orders have begun to disrupt patient care in the United States, as some providers cannot access essential federal funding, according to interviews with a dozen healthcare providers and policy advocates. Facilities in Virginia and West Virginia told Reuters they were forced to shutter primary care clinics or lay off staff. Other community health clinics in California and Virginia said they received notices of termination for federal grants that support HIV prevention care. Source-Reuters

With Medicaid and CHIP Enrollment at more than 79 million people nationally, data shows the wide range of services accessed by consumers ranging from preventative care to hospital stays and prescription drugs. Medicaid pays for half of all U.S. births and is the largest payer of long-term care and behavioral health services. Pennsylvania has over three million enrollees with more than 750,000 due to Medicaid expansion. Access the Department of Human Services Data Dashboard and Reports for more information.

The CDC issued a report last week showing that the maternal mortality rates decreased between 2022 -2023 for White, Hispanic, and Asian women. However, the rates increased for Black mothers – a group whose pregnancy-related death rate was already more than three times the rate for mothers of other racial and ethnic groups.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Shared Savings Program Fast Facts updates data on provider and beneficiary participation in an accountable care organization (ACO). An ACO is a group of healthcare providers that work together to coordinate care for Medicare patients. As of January 2025, 53.4% of beneficiaries in Traditional Medicare are enrolled in an accountable care relationship with a provider participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (Innovation Center) accountable care models. In MSSP, the number of rural and safety net providers has grown since last year. There are now 2,872 Rural Health Clinics, 547 Critical Access Hospitals, and 7,036 Federally Qualified Health Centers participating.

This week, Tom Engels was sworn in as the HRSA Administrator, returning to a role he held from April 2019 to January 2021. Mr. Engels is originally from Wisconsin, where he began his political career as Governor Tommy Thompson’s Deputy Press Secretary and eventually served as the Deputy Secretary for the Department of Health Services. During his first term at HRSA, his tasks included overseeing the roll-out of the Provider Relief Fund created in response to the COVID pandemic, and he demonstrated an understanding of and appreciation for HRSA programs and staff, including support of Community Health Centers.

On Feb.5, Representatives Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) and Angie Craig (D- MN) introduced the Health Care Workforce Innovation Act of 2025 (H.R. 935). Similar to the legislation Representative Craig authored last year, the bill aims to expand the workforce pipeline for local health care providers particularly CHCs. It creates a new HRSA grant program for this purpose but provides no funding for grants. Here are press releases from Representatives Garbarino and Craig.

Rep. Kathy L. Rapp (R-Warren/Crawford/Forest), Republican chair of the House Health Committee, announced her bill to provide financial incentives to recruit rural healthcare providers has unanimously passed the House Health Committee. House Bill 157, the reintroduction of House Bill 2382 from last session, would create the Rural Health Care Grant Program, which would allow specified facilities, including Federal Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) to help certain providers in paying off their student loans. To be eligible to receive grant dollars, House Bill 157 would require: licensed nurses, physicians, midwives, dentists and dental hygienists to begin practicing at a rural hospital, FQHC, rural health clinic, or birth center within six months of accepting a position; be classified as full-time by working 30 hours or more per week, or 130 hours per month; and work in the facility for a minimum of three years.