Brookings Health Continues to Chart on Top 100 Rural & Community Hospital List

  • February 19, 2026
Director of Pharmacy Steve Timmerman, Pharm. D., consults with Hospitalist Dr. Jill Kruse, M.D., on Brookings Health System’s inpatient care unit. Brookings Health System was included on the Top 20 Rural & Community Hospital list for the eleventh consecutive year. The list recognizes outstanding rural hospital performance based on the Chartis Rural Hospital INDEX which measures hospitals on publicly available data, including quality, patient perspectives and finance.
Director of Pharmacy Steve Timmerman, Pharm. D., consults with Hospitalist Dr. Jill Kruse, M.D., on Brookings Health System’s inpatient care unit. Brookings Health System was included on the Top 20 Rural & Community Hospital list for the eleventh consecutive year. The list recognizes outstanding rural hospital performance based on the Chartis Rural Hospital INDEX which measures hospitals on publicly available data, including quality, patient perspectives and finance.

For the eleventh consecutive year, Brookings Health System has been included by The Chartis Center for Rural Health on the Top 100 Rural & Community Hospitals list. The annual recognition program honors outstanding performance among the nation’s rural hospitals based on the results of the Chartis Rural Hospital Performance INDEX®.

“Change is a constancy in the healthcare industry,” said President and CEO Jason Merkley, “but one thing that has not changed in over a decade is the high-quality, compassionate, personalized healthcare that our team consistently delivers year after year to our community.”

Based entirely on publicly available data, the INDEX is the industry’s most comprehensive and objective assessment of rural hospital performance. The INDEX assesses performance across eight pillars, measuring and monitoring across a variety of areas that impact hospital operations, quality, patient perspective and finance.

“The delivery of care within rural communities is perhaps more complex today than at any point in recent memory. This year’s Top 100 Rural & Community Hospitals have emerged as true leaders – committed to their mission through a powerful combination of resilience, dedication and innovation,” said Michael Topchik, Executive Director of The Chartis Center for Rural Health. “We’re delighted to recognize this year’s winners and celebrate their Top 100 status.”

The list of this year’s Top 100 Rural & Community Hospitals, as well as the 2026 INDEX methodology, can be found at chartis.com/top-performing-rural-hospitals. More information about Brookings Health System’s care quality can be found at brookingshealth.org/Quality.

About Brookings Health System

Brookings Health System, located in Brookings, South Dakota, includes a 49-bed hospital, the 79-bed The Neighborhoods at Brookview nursing home, Brookhaven Estates senior living apartments, Yorkshire Eye Clinic & Optical, and medical clinics in Arlington, White and Volga, South Dakota. It is a non-profit, municipal health system that offers the community a full range of inpatient, outpatient, emergency and extended care services. Brookings Hospital provides local access to doctors in Brookings and offers robotic da Vinci surgery and Mako robotic-arm assisted procedures, making it one of the premier rural community hospitals in South Dakota. For more information about the services offered at Brookings Health System, please call (605) 696-9000 or visit us on the Web at brookingshealth.org.