Believe in Better: Award-Winning Care That Puts Patients First
Sparta Community Hospital has earned the Best Overall ACO Performance Award and Best in ACO Care Management Award from the Illinois Rural Community Care Organization (IRCCO) for Calendar Year 2025.
While awards are an honor, what matters most is what they represent: a commitment to helping patients receive high-quality, coordinated care that supports better health outcomes.
The Best Overall ACO Performance Award is IRCCO’s highest recognition, honoring organizations that excel in quality outcomes, care management, patient engagement, population health initiatives, and value-based care performance. The Best in ACO Care Management Award recognizes exceptional efforts to coordinate care, remove barriers to accessing services, and help patients receive the support they need throughout their healthcare journey.
These awards reflect years of work focused on strengthening care coordination, enhancing patient engagement, improving quality measures, and building processes that help patients stay healthier.
What This Means for You
At Sparta Community Hospital, Believe in Better means continually looking for ways to improve the healthcare experience for patients and families.
For patients, these awards represent:
- Care that is coordinated across providers and services
- A stronger focus on preventive care and chronic disease management
- Better communication and support throughout the care journey
- Reduced barriers to accessing needed services
- A healthcare team focused on helping patients achieve better long-term health outcomes
Simply put, these recognitions affirm that Sparta Community Hospital is committed not only to treating illness, but also to helping patients stay healthy, navigate their care with confidence, and receive the right care at the right time.
“While these awards recognize our performance during the 2025 calendar year, they represent much more than a single year’s work,” said Joann Emge, CEO of Sparta Community Hospital. “They are the result of years of dedication, collaboration, and continuous improvement across our organization. We are honored by this recognition, but what matters most is the difference this work makes for the patients and communities we serve. Every improvement we make, every partnership we build, and every patient we support reflects our commitment to Believe in Better.”
The recognition also highlights the contributions of employees throughout the organization. From providers and nurses to therapists, registration staff, laboratory teams, pharmacists, environmental services, dietary, maintenance, billing, and IT, every department plays a role in creating a positive patient experience and supporting better health outcomes.
To celebrate the achievement and thank employees for their role in making it possible, staff members were treated to Dilly Bars. While a small gesture, it served as a reminder that these awards belong to the entire Sparta Community Hospital team. Every interaction, every improvement, and every act of service contributes to the high-quality, coordinated care that earned this recognition.
As Sparta Community Hospital celebrates these achievements, the focus remains firmly on the future. The hospital will continue investing in programs, partnerships, and innovations that improve care, strengthen communities, and help patients live healthier lives.
Because at Sparta Community Hospital, Believe in Better isn’t just a phrase—it’s a promise to continuously pursue better care, better experiences, and better outcomes for every patient, every day.