Franklin County Medical Center in Preston has done something no other hospital in Idaho managed to do this year — land on the list of the top 100 critical access hospitals in the entire country.

The hospital has been named one of the Top 100 Critical Access Hospitals in the United States for 2026 by The Chartis Center for Rural Health, making it the only Idaho hospital to earn the distinction this year. The recognition places Franklin County Medical Center among the highest-performing rural health care facilities in the nation out of approximately 1,300 critical access hospitals nationwide.

The honor is not handed out lightly. The Chartis Rural Hospital Performance INDEX evaluates hospitals across five demanding categories — quality, outcomes, patient perspective, cost and financial efficiency — making the top 100 list one of the most rigorous benchmarks in rural health care.

For Franklin County Medical Center CEO Darin Dransfield, the ranking means something deeper than a trophy on the wall.

“While the ranking is a prestigious achievement, it’s what’s happening on our campus that truly matters,” Dransfield said.

What is happening on campus is a lot. Franklin County Medical Center has invested heavily in its facilities, services and technology in recent years, transforming what was once an aging rural hospital into a modern medical destination.

A completely renovated medical campus, a new medical office building, expanded specialty services including urology and gynecology and a new state-of-the-art MRI machine are among the improvements that have elevated the level of care available to Franklin County residents.

That investment is paying off — not just in national rankings but in the daily experience of patients who can receive comprehensive, high-quality care close to home rather than driving hours to larger urban centers.

And Franklin County Medical Center is not resting on its laurels. This is not the first time the hospital has earned top 100 recognition and Dransfield made clear it will not be the last.

“It is simply one more achievement in Franklin County Medical Center’s ongoing pursuit of delivering the best possible medical care to our community,” he said.

For a small rural hospital in Southeastern Idaho, consistently earning a place among the nation’s top 100 is a remarkable achievement — and a powerful statement about what is possible when a community invests in its own health care.