Garrett Regional Medical Center (GRMC) has been recognized as a 2026 Top 100 Rural & Community Hospital by The Chartis Center for Rural Health for the eighth consecutive year. The Top 100 awards program celebrates outstanding performance annually among the nation’s rural hospitals based on the results of the Chartis Rural Hospital Performance INDEX®. GRMC is one of only three Maryland hospitals to earn a spot on the list.
“This is a tremendous honor for Garrett Regional Medical Center to once again be recognized as a Top 100 Rural & Community Hospital for the eighth year in a row,” said Mark Boucot, president and CEO of GRMC and Potomac Valley Hospital. “This recognition reflects the dedication of our physicians, nurses, and staff who work tirelessly every day to provide high-quality care to our community. Their commitment to excellence and patient safety continues to make a meaningful difference for the patients and families we serve.”
“The delivery of care within rural communities is perhaps more complex today than at any point in recent memory. This year’s Top 100 Rural & Community Hospitals have emerged as true leaders – committed to their mission through a powerful combination of resilience, dedication and innovation,” said Michael Topchik, Executive Director of The Chartis Center for Rural Health. “We’re delighted to recognize this year’s winners and celebrate their Top 100 status.”
Now in its 16th year, the INDEX is the industry’s most comprehensive and objective assessment of rural hospital performance. Leveraging publicly available data, the INDEX is utilized nationwide by rural hospitals, health systems with rural affiliates, hospital associations, and state offices of rural health to measure and monitor performance across a variety of areas impacting hospital operations, quality, patient perspective and finance.
As a full member of the WVU Health System, GRMC continues to grow the specialty services available to the 46,000 people in GRMC’s service area, which includes parts of eight counties across Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. GRMC provides behavioral health, cancer care and infusion, cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation, gynecology, heart and vascular care, integrative pain management, nephrology and urology, orthopaedics, and podiatry services, among others.
Excellent patient outcomes play a key role in the recognition GRMC achieves. In 2025, GRMC had the lowest readmission rate in the state of Maryland.
GRMC is committed to patient safety initiatives focused on improving communication and eliminating hospital-acquired infections, blood clots, serious medication errors, and preventable harm events.
Between January 1 and December 31, 2025, Garrett Regional Medical Center demonstrated outstanding patient safety outcomes, reporting zero preventable harm events, venous thrombosis cases, and serious medication errors. The hospital also maintained extremely low infection rates, with hospital-acquired infections at just 0.08% and surgical site infections at 0.04%—far surpassing national benchmarks of 1.0% and 1.57%, respectively.
