Awards and Honors

Women Health System CEOs to Know for 2026

Gritman President and CEO Kara Besst was honored in 2026 by Becker’s Hospital Review as among Women Health System CEOs to Know for her vision and an unrelenting commitment to the community.

According to Becker’s, Besst “exemplifies the power of continuity and internal growth in executive leadership. Her tenure is marked by exceptional quality scores, and she has played a large part in the rural hospital’s elevation into a benchmark for clinical safety and service.”

Gritman’s Nurses Noted for Communication

Gritman Medical Center has been listed as one of the seven best hospitals in Idaho for nurse communication by Becker’s Hospital Review. Becker’s compiled the list by reviewing Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Nationwide, a total of 567 hospitals achieved this honor.

Congratulations to the entire Gritman Medical Center team for strides made in tissue and organ donation, including two meaningful awards for our hospital’s work in support of patients in the communities we serve.

LifeCenter Northwest honored Gritman with the following awards for 2025:

• Organ Donation Process Excellence Award: Given to hospitals with a process error rate of 5% or less. Gritman had a process error rate of 0%.
• Tissue Donation Referral Achievement Award: Earned by hospitals with a timely tissue referral rate of 95% or greater. Gritman’s timely referral rate was 98% in 2025.

Each year, LifeCenter Northwest recognizes top-performing hospitals for their continued dedication to supporting donation and transplantation. LifeCenter Northwest made available 1,318 life-saving transplantable organs from 446 organ donors across its four-state service area in 2025, along with 60,750 life-enhancing tissue transplants across our region. Gritman’s efforts played a small part in that endeavor, and recognition would not be possible without the hard work of clinical and non-clinical teams from across the organization. This concerted effort ensures patients across the Northwest get the tissue and organ support they need.

Gritman’s QuickCARE and the Westside Clinics have been recognized as “Best of the Palouse” winners in the Walk-in Clinic and Primary Care clinic categories in the annual “Best of the Palouse” contest sponsored by the Lewiston Tribune, Moscow-Pullman Daily News and Inland 360 Magazine.

In addition to these outstanding awards, the following Gritman people and locations are finalists in the 2026 “Best of the Palouse” Contest. That means they are considered among the top 3 in the region by residents of our community:

• Moscow Medical – Primary Care Clinic Finalist
• Gritman Medical Center – Hospital/Medical Center Finalist
• Gritman Therapy Solutions – Physical Therapy Clinic Finalist
• Gritman Clinical Nutrition and Diabetes Care – Dietitian Finalist
• Kara Besst – Best Boss Finalist
• Kramer Knecht – Best Personal Trainer Finalist
• Gritman Medical Center – Best Large Employer Finalist

We are proud to congratulate Dr. Bryn Parker, who was recently named the 2026 Idaho Family Physician of the Year by the Idaho Academy of Family Physicians for her leadership, teaching, advocacy and commitment to providing quality Family Medicine and Obstetric care in our community.

Dr. Parker has practiced at Gritman’s Downtown Clinic for more than a decade. In addition, she delivers babies at the Gritman Family Birth Center and serves as a Site Director for the Targeted Rural Underserved Track program through the University of Idaho WWAMI Medical Education Program.

In nominating Dr. Parker for the award, Kootenai Health physician Dr. Crystal Pyrak said her colleague serves as “a cornerstone” of the Gritman Family and ensures care is “accessible, evidence-based and patient-centered.”

“My favorite thing about Family Medicine is the longstanding relationships I have with the families and individuals who I see in the office. It is a privilege to help care for the day-to-day and the milestones in their lives over the years,” she said.  “I am honored by this award and offer a sincere thanks to all of the fabulous physicians who helped me become the Family Medicine physician I am today.”

Becker’s Hospital Review Notes Gritman’s Quality of Service

Gritman Medical Center has been listed in August 2024 as one of the four best Idaho hospitals for patient experience by Becker’s Hospital Review. Becker’s compiled the list by reviewing Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Nationwide, a total of 273 hospitals achieved this honor.

In 2023, Becker’s listed Gritman as one of the seven best hospitals in Idaho for staff responsiveness. Nationwide, a total of 530 hospitals were listed.

Kara Besst, Gritman Medical Center President and CEO, has been named among Becker’s top 103 “Critical Access Hospital Presidents and CEOs to Know” for 2025. Becker’s notes: “Besst serves as president and CEO of a 25-bed critical access hospital and multi-county clinic network supporting approximately 150,000 patient visits annually. Over more than three decades at the organization, she advanced from accountant to CFO to CEO, bringing deep institutional knowledge and financial discipline to system growth. Under her leadership, the medical center significantly expanded primary care and specialty services, including general surgery, orthopedics and urology. She has also built strategic partnerships, including collaborations with competing hospitals, to bring oncology, neurology, and ear, nose and throat services to rural communities across the Palouse region. The organization has received multiple awards for quality, safety and organ donation. Besst serves as immediate past chair of the Idaho Hospital Association board and as a member of the American Hospital Association’s rural health services committee.”

Gritman Medical Center has been named among Becker’s top 100 “Great Community Hospitals” for 2025.

The list showcases hospitals that are dedicated to “clinical excellence, academic advancement and personalized, whole-person care delivery.” Becker’s recognized Gritman’s ongoing efforts to expand services and improve patient access. Notably, the hospital adopted the Epic electronic health record system to streamline care coordination, opened a new student health clinic at Lewis-Clark State College, and reopened its revitalized Troy Family Medicine clinic in early 2025.

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The National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification Program was created by Cribs for Kids and is endorsed by leading health and safety organizations. Its goal is to award recognition to hospitals that demonstrate a commitment to community leadership for best practices and education in infant sleep safety. By becoming certified, a hospital demonstrates that it is committed to the mission of making babies as safe as possible in their sleep environments.

For more information on the Cribs for Kids® National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification program visit cribsforkids.org/safesleephospitalcertification.

The Joint Commission

Gritman has been ranked as one of the Top 100 Critical Access Hospitals in the country by The Joint Commission, which recognizes us with its Gold Seal of Approval for Hospital Accreditation. Our laboratory, sleep center and clinics are also nationally accredited.

Idaho Statesman’s 2023 Idaho Top 100

Our hospital and clinic network ranked as No. 44 in the Idaho Statesman’s 2023 Idaho Top 100 listing of the top private businesses throughout the state. Gritman debuted on the list at No. 48 in 2020.