New rural hospital network helping ND’s rural hospitals survive, thrive

ROLLA, N.D. — A three-year-old network for collaboration between rural hospitals in North Dakota is winning accolades and giving other states a template to follow that cuts costs, improves patient outcomes and protects the hospitals independence. I think if you talk about rural health transformation, this is the most transformative thing that's going on in rural health in North Dakota, said Chris Albertson, CEO of SMP Health - St. Kateri in Rolla. It s what other states are starting to follow, the same model. Albertson is talking about the impact of the Rough Rider High Value Network (RRHVN), formed in 2023 among 23 independent rural and critical access hospitals that collectively serve around 65% of North Dakota s rural population. St. Kateri, a 25-bed critical access hospital in Rolla, was among the first chosen to pilot in the network. I said I want to see it work, and I want to see it work in probably the hardest subset of the patient population we have,