In December of 1996, Union Hospital was selected as one of the Nation's Top Performing Hospitals according to the 1996 100 Top Hospitals--Benchmarks for Success Study.

100 Top Hospitals--Benchmarks for Success Study is conducted regularly by HCIA, the industry's most comprehensive source of health care information and the Healthcare Provider Consulting Practice, HCPC, of William M. Mercer, a leading international consulting firm. HCIA and Mercer HCPC annually develop a model for high performance among general acute care hospitals in the United States. More information about this award and study was included in the December 9, 1996, issue of Modern Healthcare magazine.

To qualify, hospitals had to rank above their peers on a combination of eight measures that indicate high value through high quality outcomes, effective use of resources and efficient provisions of care--a balance that HCIA and Mercer HCPC have found to be the best combinations for long term institutional stability. Categories of the Top 100 Hospitals were further broken down into the following five categories: Urban hospitals with fewer than 250 beds in service; Non-teaching hospitals with 250 beds or more in service; Teaching hospitals with 250 or more beds in service; Major teaching hospitals with 400 or more beds in service; and finally, Rural hospitals with fewer than 250 beds in service. Union Hospital in Mayville, North Dakota, was included in the 20 hospitals that were chosen. In the Rural Hospital category, Union Hospital was chosen to be one of the top performers from 1384 rural hospitals listed in this group.

The methodology for performance measures were taken from feedback of industry leaders and internal experts, a review of healthcare literature, a survey of hospitals in demanding market places to learn what measures they use to evaluate themselves. As a result of that survey, the following eight measures of clinical quality practices, operations, and financial management were used:

1. Risk-adjusted mortality index
2. Risk-adjusted complications index
3. Severity-adjusted average length of stay
4. Expense per adjusted discharge
5. Profitability (cash flow margin)
6. Index of outpatient activity
7. Long term growth in equity
8. Productivity (total asset turnover ratio)

Both not-for-profit and investor-owned hospitals continue to compete successfully in the terms of quality, efficiency, and financial performance. The 1996 group of 100 included 27 investor-owned hospitals, and 73 not-for-profit hospitals.

Former Chief Executive Officer, James "Scotty" Mackay, Jr., represented Union Hospital in receiving the award in Washington, D.C. As a 30 bed full service hospital located between Fargo and Grand Forks, North Dakota, the Mayville institution was very proud of the award and credit can go to the 85 full and part time employees who work very hard to bring quality health care at the lowest possible cost.