Knoxville Hospital & Clinics was named a Top 100 Critical Access Hospital earlier this year. Compiled by The Chartis Center for Rural Health, the 11th annual recognition program honors outstanding performance among the nation’s rural hospitals. CEO Kevin Kincaid commends the hard work of his staff throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and says it’s a major deal to earn the distinction for the year 2020.

“What was top of mind was keeping this building safe, trying to keep our patients safe. We had this place locked down like a military institution for a while because we just didn’t know how we were going to react to the COVID-19 virus. While I was focusing on that, we had a culture where the people doing the day-to-day care, the ones touching the patients never ever lost that true north of hospitality, treating people with respect, being kind. We got through all of that and took care of people so their outcomes got better. To get this award in 2020 is an especially big deal.”

This was the second consecutive year the hospital received the distinction.