Altru Health System ranked among top 250 hospitals in the nation

Apr. 26—GRAND FORKS — Altru Health System has been named one of the top 250 hospitals in the nation, the only North Dakota facility to make the list.

The designation was made by Healthgrades, a national company that compiles data about physicians and care providers. According to its website, Healthgrades' awards inform readers "which hospitals deliver superior quality care." The organization evaluates hospitals' performance "using objective quality measures, including clinical outcomes and patient safety, as well as patient experience."

Altru CEO Todd Forkel said the organization's goal is "every day, every interaction, we bring the very best we can. I think this recognition really highlights the efforts of (Altru's) teams."

It's another notable recognition earned by the Grand Forks-based health provider, which has had a string of honors in the past year or two, including a four-star designation bestowed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services last July. A four-star rating means the system ranks among the top 25% of hospitals in the nation.

In May 2023, Altru was

recognized nationally for its maternity and cardiology departments,

and in October 2023,

the system earned national recognition

as one of the nation's "most wired" facilities. In late December, the

Herald named Forkel

its Person of the Year, an honor he at the time said reflected the cumulative efforts of the system's 3,400 employees.

Upon being named one of the top 250 hospitals in the nation, Altru was specifically cited by Healthgrades for exceptional work in critical care, neurosciences and pulmonary care.

"No matter what our rankings are, those are nice and they are great to highlight the work the staff does, but (the goal is that) every day, we get incrementally better at what we do," Forkel said. "If you look at great organizations or sports teams, those that really make an impact are those that come every day to say, 'Can we just get 1% better at what we do?' That's really our focal point. It's not to have awards or ratings, although those are nice recognitions for our staff and the work they do, but that every day, we're getting better at what we do."

The overriding goal at Altru is to achieve a five-star designation from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. That would put Altru in the top 10% of hospitals nationwide. Forkel said this week — and has said in the past — that achieving five-star status is Altru's "north star goal."

In January,

Altru made public its new mission

statement: "Making a difference for those we care for." Additionally, its new vision is "The relentless pursuit of excellence for the health of our community."

Although the Healthgrades designation and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' star status are different honors that derive from different sources, there are similarities in the data points that tend to show Altru is gaining momentum in its quest, Forkel said.

"I would guesstimate maybe three-fourths of the metrics are the same or similar," he said, adding that "the momentum to move forward toward that clinical excellence in all of our interactions is really palpable."

And "the spotlight on this really is the staff, the clinical and support teams that work every day," he said, adding, "I also hope that it gives continued confidence to those we serve that when they do utilize us, they can have confidence in the fact that they are going to have a high-quality experience."

Meanwhile,

construction on the new hospital

— located next door to the current facility — continues. Forkel estimates that it's 92% complete and still on schedule to see its first patients early next year.

It all adds up to "continued optimism that we can continue to move that needle," he said. "I think the word 'momentum' is a great descriptor for this."

Elsewhere in the Dakotas and Minnesota, other providers that made the Healthgrades Top 250 list were Avera-McKennan in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Mayo Clinic Hospital-Saint Mary's Campus, in Rochester, Minnesota; and Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato, Minnesota.