Mount Pleasant History
Henry County Health Center is a hospital with a rich heritage of caring for patients and area residents since 1921. Located at the Crossroads of Southeast Iowa, HCHC is a 74-bed facility, featuring 25 acute care beds, along with our 49-bed long-term care facility, Park Place Elder Living.
As a community-based health center, our patients are often family members, friends, and neighbors. HCHC associates are committed to meeting the needs of our patients and are truly dedicated to providing the highest quality care. In addition to the compassion and commitment that runs throughout the organization, HCHC has experienced numerous state and national accomplishments. These are all notable achievements for a facility of HCHC’s size, and we will continue to build on these strengths to ensure a strong future for HCHC.
As a hospital, we are always striving to advance the quality of medicine that is provided to area residents, and we also have a strong focus on patient safety. We believe in providing high-quality, effective care for patients, along with making the hospital a satisfying workplace by keeping associates engaged in moving the organization forward.
In 2021, Henry County Health Center welcomed our centennial anniversary with an expanded partnership established with Great River Health. On July 1, 2021, Great River Health began operating the health center. The partnership provides financial stability to the health center and Emergency Medical Services and offers expanded health services to area residents while strengthening the region’s health care delivery system. This relationship ensures that the health care provided by HCHC continues to be managed locally and that high-quality health care will remain close to home for years to come.
Award-winning Care
Henry County Health Center has received several national awards and recognitions throughout the years. These awards demonstrate how our community hospital is a leader in health care and show our commitment to HCHC’s mission to enhance the health of individuals and our communities through high-quality, effective, and efficient services.
2021 MAP Award for High Performance in Revenue Cycle
HCHC received the 2021 MAP Award for High Performance in Revenue Cycle,
sponsored by the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA). Four
Critical Access Hospitals received MAP Award honors, with three of those
hospitals located in Iowa. HCHC tied for first place in the Critical Access
Hospital Category. The awards recognize organizations that have used innovative
and effective strategies to achieve excellence in revenue cycle performance
in 2020-21. HCHC has won the award in 2009, 2013, 2018, and 2019.
Top 100 Critical Access Hospital
In 2019, HCHC was named a Top 100 Critical Access Hospital (CAH) in the
United States by The Chartis Center for Rural Health. One of the industry’s
most significant designations of performance excellence, the Top 100 Critical
Access Hospitals award is based upon results from publicly reported data
of all 1349 CAHs in the United States. This award is based on several
key indicators and shows HCHC’s commitment to delivering high-quality
healthcare efficiently and cost-effectively in our rural communities.
HCHC also received this award in 2016. ________________________________________________________________________
2019 MAP Award for High Performance in Revenue Cycle
HCHC received the 2019 MAP Award for High Performance in Revenue Cycle, sponsored by the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA). As a national award winner, HCHC met industry-standard revenue cycle benchmarks, implemented the patient-centered recommendations and best practices embodied in HFMA’s Healthcare Dollars & Sense® initiatives, and achieved outstanding patient satisfaction. In 2009, 2013, and 2018 HCHC received HFMA’s High Performance in Revenue Cycle Award. HCHC is the only CAH in the nation to have won the MAP Award more than once.
2018 MAP Award for High Performance in Revenue Cycle
Henry County Health Center was named a 2018 MAP Award for High Performance
in Revenue Cycle recipient, sponsored by the Healthcare Financial Management
Association (HFMA). As a national award winner, HCHC met industry-standard
revenue cycle benchmarks, implemented the patient-centered recommendations
and best practices embodied in HFMA’s Healthcare Dollars & Sense® initiatives, and achieved outstanding patient satisfaction. HCHC is the
only Critical Access Hospital in the nation to win the MAP Award more
than once. In 2009, HCHC received HFMA’s High Performance in Revenue
Cycle Award and was recognized in HFMA’s Patient Friendly Billing
Project. Of the 14 hospitals recognized, HCHC was the only Iowa hospital
and the only Critical Access Hospital (CAH) in the nation. HCHC again
won the award in 2013, with HFMA recognizing only 10 organizations that year.
Top 100 Critical Access Hospital
Of the 1300 Critical Access Hospitals in the nation, Henry County Health
Center was selected as one of iVantage Health Analytics’ Top 100
Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) in the United States in May 2016. iVantage
uses publicly reported data about hospitals for their analysis, and HCHC
scored in the top 100 of Critical Access Hospitals on iVantage’s
Hospital Strength INDEX®. The INDEX is the industry’s most comprehensive
rating of rural and Critical Access Hospitals. The results recognize that
the Top 100 Critical Access Hospitals provide a safety net to communities
across rural America – measuring them across more than 70 different
performance metrics, including quality, outcomes, patient perspective,
affordability, population risk, and efficiency.
Adopter of Patient Financial Communications Best Practices
In the spring of 2016, Henry County Health Center was recognized as an Adopter of Patient Financial Communications Best Practices by the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA), a national organization of healthcare finance leaders. As a Best Practices Adopter, HCHC demonstrated that it follows nearly 100 best practices covering all aspects of financial interactions that take place in a variety of care settings. This recognition reflects HCHC’s commitment to delivering the care and compassion that patients expect and deserve. The Adopter recognition is one result of HCHC’s work with Iowa’s state-wide transparency initiative.
Information Technology Awards
In September 2014, Henry County Health Center was honored with two awards recognizing the health center’s use of information technology. HCHC’s Healthy Living App earned a Silver Award in the “2014 w3 Awards,” and the “Best-in-Class Award” recognizes HCHC’s mobile website and the Healthy Living mobile app. The HCHC Healthy Living App is a convenient tool with several resources that empower patients to take control of their health and was branded as a multiple award-winning mobile app. The Best-in-Class awards celebrate and honor web and digital marketing excellence.
Outstanding Rural Health Organization
Henry County Health Center was selected as the recipient of the 2014 Outstanding Rural Health Organization Award. This award is given by the National Rural Health Association and recognizes a community-based group or organization that has improved access to health services and information for rural people through innovative, comprehensive approaches. Organizations considered for the award were evaluated on the following factors: outreach, preventive health and education, quality and efficiency of care, and strong community support and involvement. HCHC’s nomination highlighted the health center’s commitment to the wellness of the community, featuring the construction project, HCHC’s preventive health and education/community support and involvement programs, and the success of the HCHC Foundation’s Close to Home Campaign, demonstrating the support and positive sentiment that the community has for the health center.
Web Health Award
Henry County Health Center’s Healthy Living mobile app received a Bronze award at the 2013 Summer/Fall Web Health Awards. The Healthy Living app was built for both iPhone and Android. This is the first mobile app ever created by HCHC. HCHC’s goal was to create a customized mobile app that would both reinforce the hospital brand and encourage healthier living among the patient community. To download the HCHC Healthy Living app, go to the Google Play Store.
Top 10 Hospitals of Choice
Henry County Health Center was recognized by the American Alliance of Healthcare Providers (AAHCP) as one of the top 10 hospitals in the nation to receive the Hospital of Choice Award for 2013. The Hospital of Choice Award is designed to identify America’s most customer-friendly hospitals, recognizing the best hospitals in customer service delivery. Last year in 2012, HCHC was named as a Top 100 Hospital. This year, HCHC advanced to achieve recognition as a Top 10 Hospital of Choice and attained second place on the Top 10 list, earning runner-up for the 2013 Hospital of the Year Award. The Hospital of Choice Awards Selection Committee selected HCHC from more than 1600 hospital reviews. The Choice Awards are based on customer service practices and techniques and include service delivery competencies in communication, collaboration, education, teamwork, and good citizenship.
Excellence in Patient Satisfaction
HCHC received the HealthStrong™ Award for Excellence in Patient Satisfaction from iVantage Health Analytics in November 2013, reflecting top-quartile performance among all acute care hospitals in the nation. The HealthStrong Awards are based on The Hospital Strength Index™, a national ratings program developed by iVantage to recognize top-performing hospitals based on key metrics critical to success in the new healthcare marketplace. The Hospital Strength Index ranks all 4,400+ U.S. general acute care hospitals, including the 1,300+ Critical Access Hospitals. The Index is based on eight performance categories, measuring 56 different performance metrics. The Index offers hospital executives, trustees, and boards of directors an objective way to measure their relative performance internally and among their peers.
Intranet Innovation Award
HCHC received international recognition for its use of technology to provide
better care to patients by winning the Intranet Innovation Award for innovative
uses of its intranet portal. The Intranet Innovation Award is an international
competition for the most successful uses of intranet portals. These global
awards celebrate new ideas and innovative approaches to the enhancement
and delivery of intranets. Gold Awards are given in five different categories,
each focusing on a specific aspect of intranets. HCHC won a gold-level
award in the Business and Frontline category. This is the health center’s
second award for its intranet. In 2011, HCHC won the national Gold level
Web Health Award from the Health Information Resource Center.
MAP Award for High Performance in Revenue Cycle
HCHC was awarded the 2013 Healthcare Financial Management Association’s (HFMA) MAP Award for High Performance in Revenue Cycle. As a national award winner, HCHC met or exceeded stringent evaluation criteria addressing critical performance factors such as revenue cycle processes, financial performance, innovation, adoption of PATIENT FRIENDLY BILLING® principles, and patient satisfaction.
Only nine other organizations achieved this designation in 2013, which recognizes healthcare organizations that demonstrate excellence across all the MAP Key indicators of revenue cycle performance. Winners must show innovation and effective revenue cycle practices that deliver sustainable financial performance.
Iowa Recognition for Performance Excellence
In 2013, The Iowa Quality Center and the Iowa Recognition for Performance Excellence Executive Council, named Henry County Health Center one of eight winners of the Iowa Recognition for Performance Excellence (IRPE) Awards. Applicants were scored based on their application and an examiner site visit. Examiners looked for systematic processes and results in areas of leadership, strategic planning, customer focus, workforce focus, operations focus, measurement analysis, knowledge management, and results. The IRPE is one of 39 state award programs aligned with the National Baldrige Performance Excellence Program.
Hospital of Choice Award
In August 2012, HCHC was recognized by the American Alliance of Healthcare Providers (AAHCP) as one of the top 100 hospitals in the nation to win the Hospital of Choice Award for 2012. The Hospital of Choice Award is designed to find America’s most customer-friendly hospitals, recognizing the best hospitals in customer service delivery.
The AAHCP created the Hospital of Choice Awards to identify hospitals that excel in service delivery and maintain complete dedication to patient satisfaction. Choice Hospitals are selected based on their competence, public communication, reputation, good citizenship, and customer service skills exhibited by staff members. Researchers review public documents to evaluate the public service events and collaborative relationships established by community hospitals and score these relationships against hospitals of similar size. Every year, the Alliance evaluates about 1600 hospitals for consideration of the Hospital of Choice Award and selects a top 100 annually.
Journey to High-Performance Award
In 2010, HCHC’s Surgery Department received the “Journey to High Performance Award” for patient satisfaction. According to Press Ganey, HCHC’s Ambulatory Surgery patient satisfaction mean score increase was statistically significant for Overall Satisfaction. In 2011, HCHC’s Medical-Surgical and Maternity Services departments also received the “Journey to High Performance Award” for patient satisfaction. HCHC’s inpatient patient satisfaction mean score for Overall Satisfaction increased by 5.8, which is also statistically significant. Press Ganey is an independent market research organization that collected and totaled results from HCHC’s Patient Satisfaction Surveys during the time that these surveys were tabulated.
“These ‘Journey to High Performance’ awards show that our staff is dedicated to making a positive patient experience for each individual who receives care at the health center. The awards also are evidence of the hard work and dedication to quality improvement in these departments and throughout our organization. We are pleased to recognize HCHC’s Surgery, Med-Surg, and Maternity Services departments with these awards which signify an impressive increase in patient satisfaction. This is one more example of how HCHC is moving forward with our mission to enhance the health of individuals and our communities through high-quality, effective, and efficient services,” commented Robb Gardner, HCHC CEO.
Web Health Awards SM
HCHC’s Information Technology Department received a Gold Award in
2011 from the Health Information Resource CenterSM in its 13th annual
Web Health AwardsSM which honors the nation’s best digital health
resources. HCHC received the Gold in the Intranet category for the hospital’s
intranet/portal.
A panel of 39 experts in digital health media served as judges and selected gold, silver, bronze, and merit winners from among more than 500 entries. panel of health technology professionals reviewed entries based on content, format, success in reaching the targeted health audience, and overall quality.
The Intranet Portal is utilized as an employee communication platform at the hospital to fulfill communication needs within the organization through a variety of built-in features specific to healthcare.
Aster Awards
HCHC’s Public Information Department and Amanda Milks Design received
a national award when they were named the Gold Winner in the Aster Awards
Excellence in Medical Marketing 2011 Awards Program. The Gold distinction
was received for the hospital’s external newsletter,
Health Update, in the category Newsletter/External-Series.
Health Update is HCHC’s direct mail newsletter.
The Aster Awards is a medical marketing awards program recognizing healthcare marketing professionals for outstanding excellence in advertising, with awards granted to winning entries exemplifying excellence. In the annual contest, entries that were designed, printed, and/or distributed the previous year are scored, judged, and recognized for excellence in healthcare marketing and advertising. All entries for each category are placed together for judging by a panel of design and healthcare marketing professionals with decades of combined experience.
Most Wired
Henry County Health Center has been recognized as one of the nation’s
“Top 100 Most Wired Hospitals” by
Hospitals & Health Networks magazine in 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2016. In 2008,
HCHC was named the “Top 25 Most Wired Small and Rural Hospital.”
The 100 Most Wired organizations are hospitals and health systems that scored the highest on the 2010 Most Wired Survey questions. Each survey is scored using a methodology emphasizing the use of information technology. H&HN (Hospitals and Hospital Networks) sponsors this annual survey and benchmarking measure for all members of The American Hospital Association (AHA). Hospitals participate in this survey for a variety of reasons, but the main reason is that hospitals understand the importance of health information technology (IT) and the benefits of its widespread adoption.
Revenue Cycle Award
In 2009, HCHC also received the High Performance in the Revenue Cycle Award from the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA), a national award recognizing outstanding hospitals. HCHC was one of only 11 hospitals in the nation to receive this award, selected from over 5,000 acute care hospitals in the United States.
This award is significant because hospitals that meet or exceed the award criteria not only help confirm sound fiscal responsibility but also display a meaningful measure of positive patient experience as financial communication is one of the primary indicators of overall patient satisfaction in hospitals.
EMT-Paramedic Service of the Year Award
In 1998, HCHC Emergency Medical Services earned the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians Paramedic Ambulance Service of the Year. In that same year, HCHC EMS also received the EMT-Paramedic Service of the Year Award from the Iowa Emergency Medical Service Association (IEMSA). The staff was recognized by IEMSA for their outstanding achievement in emergency medical services in Southeast Iowa, and for their ongoing commitment to providing public education regarding health and safety topics. They also received recognition for their level of training and education, as well as their dedication to implementing quality initiatives to improve all aspects of their field.
Top 100 Hospital
HCHC was named one of the Top 100 hospitals in the United States in 1994. HCHC was the only hospital in Iowa to be listed in a comparison study of all hospitals conducted by HCIA, Inc., and Mercer Health Care Provider Consulting, designed to rate the Top 100 hospitals in the United States. The results of the study were published in the November issue of “Modern Healthcare” magazine, a national trade publication.
HCHC was one of only 20 rural hospitals chosen from a peer group of 1,487 hospitals with fewer than 250 beds. Selection in the study entitled “100 Top Hospitals: Benchmarks for Success” placed HCHC in the top 1.5 percent of all rural hospitals nationwide and in the top 2.5 percent of all hospitals of any size or geographic location in the country. HCHC was also one of only a handful of publicly-owned facilities listed in HCHC’s category.
Selection criteria included financial management, operations, and clinical practices. According to HCIA and Mercer, these 100 hospitals represented a balance of high-quality care, efficient delivery, and good financial capabilities, which represent high value to the customer and long-term stability. Officials announcing the study said its purpose is to identify a set of benchmarks for the hospital industry that represent a balance of high-quality care, efficient delivery, and good financial capabilities. The research identified 100 hospitals that outperformed their peers on a set of objective clinical, operational, and financial benchmarks.