Officials with Caribou-based Professional Home Nursing knew they were good, but they didn’t expect to be ranked one of the top home health providers in the country.

Katherine Anderson, co-owner of the organization, confirmed Friday that the agency was named among the top 500 out of nearly 9,000 home health providers in the United States.

The agency was the only one in Aroostook County and one of four in Maine to achieve the ranking.

The other three Maine agencies that received top rankings were Bangor Area Visiting Nurses in Bangor, Kno-Wal-Lin Home Care & Hospice in Rockland, and St. Andrews Home Health in Boothbay Harbor.

Anderson said the agency is thrilled to receive the honor.

“We work really hard to achieve a certain level of quality here, but we never anticipated we would shine that well among others, particularly on a national level,” Anderson said. “Hard work pays off.”

The study, called 2006 HomeCare Elite, was compiled by Outcome Concept Systems Inc., a leading provider of health care information, and DecisionHealth, publisher of the independent home care newsletter Home Health Line.

According to information released by the two, “the first performance recognition of its kind in the home health industry” names the Medicare-certified agencies whose performance in quality, improvement and financial performance – both on the clinical and financial side – are among the top 25 percent of providers nationwide.

Anderson pointed out that this is the first time a study such as this has been done, so it was especially meaningful when the rural agency received the honor.

Professional Home Nursing has offices in Caribou and Madawaska and provides services all over Aroostook County. The locally owned and operated agency employs about 20 licensed nurses and therapists. Anderson co-owns the agency with Darlene Foster. They have been in business for 11 years.

“I think we expect quality,” Anderson said. “Being nurses, we have a very high standard of professionalism and quality. I think that shows through in the results of this study.”

For information about the agency’s ranking or to learn more about the 2006 HomeCare Elite, visit www.pro

fessionalhomenursing.com.