Best Hospitals in Rural America

Mercy Regional, an 82-bed acute-care hospital, is southwestern Colorado’s largest and most technologically advanced medical facility. Mercy’s areas of specialty include orthopedic and spine surgery, cardiology, emergency and trauma care, and cancer care.

AdventHealth Wauchula is a general medical and surgical facility in Hardee County, an agricultural area. It is also a teaching hospital. It received high marks across most categories.

Fairview Park Hospital is a full-service emergency care facility specializing in diagnostic imaging and joint care, serving Laurens County and the surrounding communities. It scored very high by most measures, but had a weaker score for MRSA infection.

Floyd Polk Medical Center is a 25-bed, critical access hospital providing round-the-clock emergency and key medical services with support from the Floyd health care system.

North Hawaii Community Hospital is a 35-bed rural acute care hospital located in Waimea, on the Big Island of Hawaii. Its mission is “To fulfill the intent of Queen Emma and King Kamehameha IV to provide in perpetuity quality health care services to improve the well-being of Native Hawaiians and all of the people of Hawaii.”

Our Lady of the Angels Hospital is an acute care hospital serving rural Washington Parish, in the interior southeast corner of the state. It achieved mainly top marks across the board, but had a weaker score for its rate of C-sections.

LincolnHealth in Damariscotta features a campus with a 25-bed community hospital; Lincoln Medical Partners, a multi-specialty physician practice; Cove’s Edge, a rehabilitation and long-term care facility; and Chase Point, an assisted living facility.

Northern Light Blue Hill Hospital is a 25-bed critical access hospital in Blue Hill, a peninsula on the Maine coast. It achieved top marks in almost all categories.

Pen Bay is the largest community hospital in Midcoast Maine. It achieved generally high scores across the board.

Stephens is a 25-bed critical access hospital in Norway, a town with a population of about 5,000. The hospital has been named one of the best rural hospitals in the nation several times in recent years.

Waldo County General Hospital operates as a family of services with Waldo County Medical Partners and Penobscot Shores Retirement Community. It is part of the Coastal Healthcare Alliance and the MaineHealth system.

MidMichigan Health is a non-profit health system affiliated with Michigan Medicine, the health care division of the University of Michigan. It covers a 23-county region with a half-dozen medical centers, including Gladwin.

Like its Gladwin counterpart, above, MidMichigan Health’s Clare facility is one of a half-dozen medical centers affiliated with the University of Michigan’s health care division that serve a 23-county region.

ProMedica Bixby Hospital (now part of ProMedica Charles and Virginia Hickman Hospital) is a general medical and surgical facility. It boasts particular strengths in the specialty areas of pulmonary, gastrointestinal, and critical care.

Great Plains Health is a nonprofit regional referral center serving western Nebraska, northern Kansas, and northern Colorado. It achieved mostly top marks across the board, but had a weaker score for its rates of C-sections and episiotomies.

Meadville Medical Center is a community hospital located in northwestern Pennsylvania. It has a medical staff of more than 100 covering almost 40 medical/surgical specialties.

Memorial is a general medical and surgical facility serving San Augustine and nearby communities.