Community Hospital Honored with 2025 NE Governor's Wellness Grower Award

McCook, NE — Community Hospital has been recognized with the prestigious 2025 NE Governor's Wellness Grower Award, celebrating its commitment to employee well-being and innovative use of data to support health initiatives. This award highlights organizations that demonstrate exceptional leadership in workplace wellness and community engagement.

The Governor’s Wellness Awards program commended Community Hospital for its strategic approach to employee wellness, noting, “This is a fantastic program that is really utilizing your data to support your employees. Involving community is also a great aspect that you are incorporating.” The program also praised the hospital’s efforts to address Social Determinants of Health (SDOH), stating, “Loved the fact you addressed SDOH.”

Andie Stang, Wellness Program Specialist at Community Hospital, emphasized the importance of wellness in the workplace:

“Wellness is more than just a program—it’s a culture we’re building to support our staff both personally and professionally. We participate in the Governor’s Wellness Awards because it helps us stay accountable, innovative, and connected to the broader mission of improving health outcomes for our employees and our community.”

Community Hospital’s wellness initiatives include personalized health assessments, mental health resources, fitness challenges, and community outreach programs—all designed to foster a healthier, more resilient workforce.
 

The Caring Kind award is a time-honored tradition of the Nebraska Hospital Association. It recognizes outstanding health care employees who have demonstrated compassion for patients, cooperation with coworkers and dedication to providing the best care possible. Hospitals across the state select a Caring Kind recipient from within their respective institutions. Click this link to read about the 2025 Caring Kind winner, Katie Stagemeyer.

Community Hospital has been recognized multiple times in the Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study. Click the link to read about the most recent award received in 2025 for this national recognition. Most Wired 2025

October 14, 2024
Community Hospital Celebrates 2024 Malcolm Baldrige Journey and Finalist Status

McCook, Neb. – Community Hospital is proud to announce its remarkable journey in the pursuit of the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, highlighting the organization’s unwavering commitment to excellence and continuous improvement. Following a comprehensive site visit in July, Community Hospital achieved finalist status for the 2024 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, a testament to the dedication of its staff and leadership.

The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, established by the U.S. Congress in 1987, is the nation’s highest recognition for organizational performance excellence. Community Hospital’s participation in this rigorous process involved a detailed application, outlining the organization’s dedication to best practices in leadership, strategy, customers, workforce, and operations. As a finalist, Community Hospital underwent an exhaustive on-site evaluation conducted by a team of Baldrige examiners. During this visit, the examiners reviewed the hospital’s systems and processes, gathering insights from employees and leadership teams to assess the hospital’s alignment with Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence.

“It was an honor to welcome the Baldrige site visit team to Community Hospital,” said Troy Bruntz, President and CEO of Community Hospital. “This process not only reflects our commitment to delivering the highest quality of care but also provides us with invaluable feedback that helps us continue improving and better serving our community. Reaching this milestone is a shared achievement that speaks to the dedication and expertise of our entire staff.”

Throughout the Baldrige journey, Community Hospital has embraced a culture of transparency, accountability, and innovation. The hospital’s Baldrige journey involved assessing and enhancing systems to better meet the needs of its patients and community, including process improvements across departments, increased teamwork, and the integration of cutting-edge technology to support healthcare delivery. Community Hospital’s commitment to excellence underscores the hospital’s role as a leader in healthcare for the region and its pledge to continually strive for improvement.

As a 2024 finalist, Community Hospital looks forward to continuing its journey toward excellence and maintaining the high standards that the Baldrige framework promotes. Achieving finalist status has brought pride to the organization and underscores the hospital’s role in leading the region to a healthier future.
 

In 2018, Community Hospital was named one of the nation's Top 20 Critical Access Hospitals as determined by the Chartis Center for Rural Health.

The National Excellence in Healthcare Awards are presented yearly by the Professional Research Consultants (PRC). PRC is a nationally-known healthcare marketing research company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Click the link to learn more about the National Excellence in Healthcare Awards.

These state awards from the Rocky Mountain Performance Excellence Program, are part of the national Baldrige Performance Excellence Program. Healthcare organizations around the country are looking for ways to improve safety and outcomes, while reducing cost. The programs' criteria: Leadership, Strategic Planning, Customer Focus, Measurement, Analysis and Knowledge Management, Workforce Focus, Operations Focus and Results, helps Community Hospital improve operations and sustain world-class results. Read more about the Peak Award and Timberline Award.

NHA Advocacy Team of the Year Award - Community Hospital has been recognized several times over the past few years by the Nebraska Hospital Association as the Advocacy Team of the Year.

Governor's Wellness Award

WELCOA Awards

Recognition of Quality

Top Performer on Key Quality Measures

VHA Leadership

2011
Quest for Excellence Award

2012
National Magazine Recognition, Healthcare Design - featured Community Hospital's building design of the patient wing in its October 17, 2012 edition.

Nebraska Hospital Association - Community Hospital was chosen as a showcase hospital by the Nebraska Hospital Association as a participant in the National Hospital Engagement Network, or HEN. The Nebraska report featuring Community Hospital was submitted to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

2013
Consumer Reports - Community Hospital was rated for safe surgery, along with 23 other Nebraska hospitals. The hospital was featured in the September 2013 issue of Consumer Reports "Your safer-surgery survival guide: Our ratings of 2,463 U.S. hospitals can help you find the right one."

Nebraska Hospital Association Magazine - Community Hospital was featured in the Nebraska Hospital Association magazine Healthier Nebraska in the summer 2013 quarterly edition featuring Community Hospital qualitiy initiatives, "Extra Steps to Extraordinary Care".

2017
Top 100 Critical Access Hospital - Community Hospital was named one of the Top 100 Critical Access Hospitals in the United States by iVantage Health Analytics and The Chartis Center for Rural Health.

2018
Top 100 Critical Access Hospital - Community Hospital was named one of the Top 100 Critical Access Hospitals in the United States by iVantage Health Analytics and The Chartis Center for Rural Health for the second year in a row.