STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

St. Luke’s Wood River medical center has been awarded a 2025 Performance Leadership Award by the Chartis Center for Rural Health.

The award is based on a quartile performance of 75th percentile or above in the areas of Quality, Outcomes and Patient Perspective.

Also recognized were Jerome, McCall and Elmore hospitals which, like Wood River, are critical access hospitals in the Boise-based St. Luke’s Health System.

Wood River received its award for Outcomes; Jerome and Elmore, for Quality, and McCall for Patient Perspective.

“These awards are recognition of the great care and compassion our teams demonstrate every day for our patients, families and each other. I am grateful to witness the tireless work our teams put in to show up for the communities we are privileged to serve,” said Mike Fenello, St. Luke’s vice president of population health for Magic Valley, Jerome and Wood River.

The awards come at a time when some rural American hospitals have closed or laid off health care workers due to changes in Medicaid and other healthcare programs brought on by reductions in federal support by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

The Chartis Center for Rural Health combines advanced analytics and rural-relevant benchmarks with industry research to help hospital improve performance and care within their communities.

“This year’s Performance Leadership Award recipients are establishing a standard of excellence for their rural peers to follow,” said Michael Topchik, executive director of Chartis Center for Rural Health.