America started to breathe a little easier once the first COVID-19 vaccines were rolled out. But experts warn that we still have a few more laps to run to beat the virus because of new variants entering the race. The Centers for Disease Control says that variants pose a threat that could reverse the improvements we’re seeing nationwide in new cases and hospitalizations.
The Chartis Center for Rural Health recently released its annual list of the top 100 critical access hospitals in the U.S. To determine the 2021 list, the Chartis Center used the Hospital Strength Index, which assesses performance in eight areas: inpatient market share, outpatient market share, quality, outcomes, patient perspective, cost, charge and financial efficiency.
Garfield Memorial Hospital is a vital part of the communities it serves and the hospital provides world-class services with unmatched personal service
Garfield County Commissioner David Tebbs
Chase was born with a hole in his lung at Garfield Memorial Hospital in Panguitch, Utah – a rural town of 1,500 people located in Southern Utah – and needed specialized care not available in his community. Fortunately, Intermountain’s TeleHealth services connected Chase’s care team with a NICU doctor in St. George, Utah who provided the expertise to repair Chase’s lung. This remote care also offered the Houston family with a healing experience that did not include the anxiety, stress, and burden of having to travel 100+ miles from Panguitch to St. George.
The data-driven analysis by the Chartis Center for Rural Health, a health care advisory group, named Cedar City Hospital as one of the top 100 rural and community hospitals in the nation and tapped Garfield Memorial Hospital in Panguitch in its top 100 critical access hospitals. Both facilities are operated by Intermountain Healthcare, which is also the operator of St. George Regional Hospital
The service, kindness and professionalism I have been shown at Garfield Memorial is incredible.
John Yardley, Yardley Insurance Agency, Garfield Memorial Hospital Governing Board
There is not a rural hospital in the country that is better than Garfield Memorial Hospital
Ron Harris, Garfield County Search and Rescue, Tropic Fire Chief
Someone asked me the other day how things have changed since more and more people are getting the COVID-19 vaccine. The truth is, it’s night and day different. As the medical director of Infectious Diseases TeleHealth at Intermountain Healthcare, I’ve had a front-row seat to the devastation caused by the virus. In the past couple of months, we’ve seen fewer cases of serious illness and death. Our ICUs and other hospital units are feeling less stress.