December 2022 MED Magazine

One number is all you need to connect with the very best pediatric transport team.

1.855.850.KIDS (5437) is your 24-hour link to pediatric specialists for physician-to-physician consults, referrals, admissions and transport.

LEADING THE WAY Healthcare Leadership in 2022

■

By Alex Strauss

PAGE 6 | This Month Online

Exclusive online articles, a link to the MED VIP list, and How the news get in MED

PAGE 16 | [SPONSORED]

Sanford Health’s hybrid clinical trial program gives local cancer patients more options

Sanford Health is unique among community-based programs in its ability to offer phase 1 clinical trials atients in its own community centers.

PAGE 18 | NEWS & NOTES

New providers, awards, certifications, and new partnerships in area healthcare

PAGE 21 | USD School of Health Sciences Success Spotlight: Jean Mitchell, OT, MPH

FROM US TO YOU

No matter how rough the winter weather may get, we here at MED always look forward to December, the month when we have the chance to showcase the extraordinary people and programs that have graced the pages of this publication in the past year.

Whether you missed an issue of MED Magazine this year, you're a new reader (welcome!), or you simply want a refresh on the biggest happenings in regional healthcare this past year while you sip a hot beverage, the December issue is here to help!

Of course, it wouldn't be MED without a roundup of the latest news and announcements from around the region, a peek at articles you'll only find on the website, and a list of upcoming winter and spring events. We have you covered there, too.

And because we know you want to stay up-to-date between issues of the magazine, we invite you to join the free MED VIP list to receive the bi-monthly news roundup in your email inbox twice each month. Click on "Become a VIP" at the top of the homepage.

Warmly, —Steff and Alex

STEFFANIE LISTON-HOLTROP

605-366-1479

Steff@MidwestMedicalEdition.com

ALEX STRAUSS Editor in Chief 605-759-3295

Alex@ MidwestMedicalEdition.com WEBSITE MidwestMedicalEdition.com

NEXT ISSUE

YOUR LIFE IS A STORY OF EVERYDAY MOMENTS

AND UNFORGETTABLE MOMENTS. When a moment creates pain or an injury, visit Avera Orthopedics for your bone, muscle and joint needs. Find relief with innovative care from the region’s largest orthopedic physician team.

Trust the leaders in orthopedic care to keep you moving forward.

Avera.org/Orthopedics

KEEPING ORTH-336019

THIS MONTH ONLINE

Highlighting content and opportunities available exclusively at MidwestMedicalEdition.com

Exclusive Online Articles

Surgical Institute’s Innovative Weight Loss Procedure Gaining Steam Dr. Bradley Thaemert of Surgical Institute of South Dakota is one of only a handful of surgeons in the country who perform Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty (ESG), an innovative minimally-invasive weight loss procedure that is becoming more accepted thanks to new research. READ MORE on ESG and results of the MERIT trial in this exclusive online article

Dakota Lions Sight & Health Takes Part in DoNation Dakota

Lions Sight & Health is participating in DoNation, the national campaign uniting America’s workforce for organ, eye, and tissue donation. In the U.S., more than 90% of adults support organ donation, but only 60% have signed up as donors.

VISIT THE WEBSITE to learn how you and your staff can help.

USD MSW Grad Makes A Difference In the FBI

Brittany O’Day ’20, MSW, serves victims and survivors of crime, advocates for increased resources, and educates professionals and community members as an FBI victim specialist in Aberdeen, South Dakota. READ MORE about her unique job and why it is critical in rural SD.

HOW DOES THE NEWS GET IN HERE?

Understanding the MED News Flow

Wondering where MED gets the information we share with you at MidwestMedicalEdition.com and in this publication? Here’s a behind-the-scenes look:

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2. Each submission is reviewed for timeliness and relevance to healthcare. professionals in the states we serve (Currently SD, ND, & NE).

3. Approved submissions are published to MidwestMedicalEdition.com, where they are categorized by region and topic so readers can find them easily.

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The result? Hospitals and clinics maximize their marketing efforts and busy readers across the region get the information they want quickly and easily in the format they prefer. Everyone wins!

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As we do each December, we are excited to close out the year with a look back at some of the top stories featured in MED Magazine over the past 12 months. This year, we are focusing on community leadership—by individuals and institutions—as demonstrated by expansions, awards, new initiatives, promotions, grants, and, of course, selection for the cover of MED Magazine

We realize that this is by no means an exhaustive list of the extraordinary leaders who provide and support medical care in our region, but we hope that it inspires you and makes you proud to continue to be a part of this vital and vibrant medical community.

LEADING the WAY 2022 Healthcare Leadership in 2022

BY ALEX STRAUSS

Note: Past issues are always available for VIP list members to read. Join the VIP list at MidwestMedicalEdition.com to receive a link to the entire archive.

January/February

ON OUR COVER Life

at the Intersection of IT and Clinical Care

Stephanie Lahr, MD, Chief Information Officer, Monument Health

EXCERPT

The COVID-19 pandemic presented challenges to every industry—but none more than healthcare. Within just a few months, care delivery approaches that had worked for decades were no longer adequate to meet the needs of medical facilities or the communities they served.

That’s where people like Stephanie Lahr, MD, Chief Information Officer and Chief Medical Information Officer at Monument Health come in. Board certified in both internal medicine and clinical informatics, Dr. Lahr walks the crucial line between medicine and technology to help her colleagues on both sides of that line navigate the largely uncharted waters of medicine in the digital age.

“My interest in clinical informatics really grew out of a belief that technology was going to be central to the evolution of patient care delivery over time,” Lahr told MED. “If I wanted that to go well, I felt like I should be a part of making that happen and not standing on the sidelines.”

But Lahr says technology is not just about efficiency; it’s also about better relationships. By reducing friction and streamlining processes, Lahr believes it can help restore the joy of practicing medicine. ❖

March

ON OUR COVER

David Pearce, PhD, President of Innovation, Research and World Clinics, Sanford Health , is named Chair of the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium.

Good Timing in Tough Times

Huron Regional Medical Center

EXCERPT

Less than a year after Huron Regional Medical Center CEO Eric Larson joined the team in August of 2020, and with much of the rest of the region still struggling with pandemic overwhelm, HRMC embarked on three construction projects, including an expansion of their Physicians Clinic on the south side of the hospital, an expansion of the Emergency Room and outpatient treatment areas, and a new imaging center.

Sanford Health celebrates the 10-year anniversary of the opening of the Sanford Heart Hospital in Sioux Falls.

Bridget O’Brien-Johnson, MSN, Executive Director of the Sanford Heart Hospital

The Clinic expansion adds a second level to the one-story building, doubling the space to house up to 20 physicians. Some of those physicians are coming from the longstanding Tschetter Hohm Clinic after HRMC assumed operations last summer in anticipation of several physician retirements.

“The initiation of the second floor did work out really nicely,” says HRMC Chief Medical Officer Cy Haatvedt, MD, a general surgeon who worked with the Tschetter Hohm clinic for 27 years. “By the time the building would be completed, our providers would be able to move right in.”

And the timing was good from another standpoint, too. Larson says the board’s decision to pull the trigger on this project when it did, despite the uncertainty of the continuing pandemic, kept it from being bogged down by construction supply chain issues that have since affected so much of the country. ❖

April/May

Yankton Medical Clinic , PC, celebrates 75 years of medical care in their community.

Avera opens the doors on the 56,000 square foot addition to its Behavioral Health Center in Sioux Falls.

ON OUR COVER Joining Forces, Improving Health

The Center for Neurosciences, Othopaedics & Spine EXCERPT

The Center for Neurosciences, Orthopaedics & Spine (CNOS) has a long history of providers joining forces to achieve their mission of improving health in the tri-state region of Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota.

Sanford Health announces a new Medical Building to house the Sanford Digestive Health Center and the Dakotas’ first and only GI fellowship.

Fourteen Siouxland —area neurologists, neurosurgeons, and orthopaedists— specialists that in some regions may even view each other as competitors - combined their practices in 1998 to form the original clinic in Dakota Dunes, South Dakota.

The USD Sanford School of Medicine and the Beacom School of Business launch a new MD-MBA joint degree program.

In the nearly 24 years since then, the team has expanded to 38 doctors, ten specialties, four clinic locations, 22 outreach sites, and more than 300 employees. Through partnerships with the Dunes Surgical Hospital, Mercy Medical Center and UnityPoint Health–St. Luke’s, CNOS providers have contributed to HealthGrades 5-Star ratings in joint replacement, total knee replacement, total hip replacement, hip fracture repair, cervical spine and treatment of stroke.

Now, CNOS has formed yet another strategic alignment, this time with Tri-State Specialists, an independent multi-specialty practice in Sioux City. ❖

June

ON OUR COVER

Neurosurgical Care for South Dakota’s Smallest Patients Dr. Eric Trumble & Dr. Shawn Vuong of Sanford Children’s

EXCERPT

No parent wants to find themselves in Dr. Eric Trumble’s officer at Sanford Children’s. And Trumble can certainly empathize. In addition to being one of only two pediatric neurosurgeons in South Dakota, he is also a father of seven.

Along with pediatric neurosurgeon Shawn Vuong, MD, Trumble treats problems ranging from hydrocephalus, to epilepsy, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, complex brain tumors, and a host of other brain and spinal diseases and congenital abnormalities. Both doctors also treat adult patients.

“About fifty percent of all pediatric neurosurgery is done by adult neurosurgeons with an interest in pediatrics,” says Dr. Trumble, who became the state’s first board certified pediatric neurosurgeon when he joined Sanford in 2018. “Dr. Vuong and I have done an additional fellowship beyond our adult residency so we have more than an interest in pediatrics.”

Vuong says he was drawn to pediatric neurosurgery not so much for its specificity as for its diversity.

“In pediatric neurosurgery, we can treat traumas, vascular issues, spinal problems, tumors, peripheral nerves, and more. I felt like a pediatric fellowship was going to allow me to expand as a neurosurgeon.” ❖

Jared Antczak is named chief digital officer at Sanford Health Operating Officer for Avera Health

Sanford Health breaks ground on its new 60,000 square feet Virtual Care Center in Sioux Falls.

Prairie Lakes Healthcare System Cardiac Catheterization Lab celebrates the 15th anniversary of its first patient.

MercyOne Chief Medical Executive Hijinio Carreon, DO, is one of 88 healthcare CMO’s to Know by Becker’s Hospital Review

Dr. D’Andre Carpenter is selected Chief Nursing Officer at UnityPoint Health. Steven Meyer, MD, CNOS clinic Dakota Dunes is inducted into the Iowa Volunteer Hall of Fame.

Shauna Rich-Jacobson becomes inaugural director of the USD School of Health new Doctor of Nurse Anesthesia Practice program.

July/August

ON OUR COVER

On the Road with Surgical Institute

SI Surgeons Meet Critical Rural Needs EXCERPT

In today’s healthcare environment —with demand rising and the workforce shrinking - it’s harder than ever to find timely access to quality care. But the challenge is often even greater for residents of our many rural communities, officially defined as towns of fewer than 2,500 people. But access for these residents is critical, not only for preserving their health, but for the ongoing health and economic stability of their communities. Unfortunately, the logistics of trying to ensure adequate access for these residents can be formidable.

Enter Surgical Institute of South Dakota, PC, an independent Sioux Falls-based team of board-certified general surgeons. In addition to being on staff at Avera McKennan Hospital & University Medical Center, Sioux Falls Specialty Hospital, Avera Heart Hospital of South Dakota, and Sanford USD Medical Center, SI surgeons have also spent decades serving small, outlying hospitals and clinics. Today, those include Flandreau, Dell Rapids, and Freeman, South Dakota, and Hendricks and Tyler, Minnesota.

This article focused on Dr. David Strand and Dr. Donald Wingert, whose consistent presence in the towns they serve decreases the need for patients to travel for routine surgery, but it also provides backup for rural primary care providers and contributes to the overall financial health of rural hospitals. ❖

LifeScape achieves Person-Centered Care accreditation from the Council on Quality and Leadership.

Sanford Health breaks ground on a 26,500 square foot primary care and PT clinic in Northeast Sioux Falls.

Monument Health announces plans to expand the Children’s area at Rapid City Hospital, to double the size of the Spearfish Hospital campus and build a new multi-specialty clinic on the edge of Spearfish

Sanford Health breaks ground on a 205,000 square foot Sanford Orthopedic Hospital in Sioux Fall. It is expected to open in Fall 2025.

Jamie Billings, Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner, becomes the primary healthcare provider for the new Hartley Family Medicine of Spencer Hospital September/October

“Team-based teaching and learning are foundational to the way we provide education here,” says School of Health Sciences Dean Haifa Abou Samra.

“The framework we use is that graduates need to have two types of skills. They need tech skills specific to their profession. But there are also cross-functional skills that all professions need. They are extremely important for the success of the graduate because they are related to patient safety and quality.” ❖

EXCERPT

Well before the pandemic triggered a mass exodus of healthcare workers, South Dakota’s clinics and hospitals were already suffering from major workforce shortages, especially of nurses. Now, it’s worse.

The University of South Dakota has recently expanded and transformed spaces for its School of Health Sciences programs in both Vermillion and Sioux Falls in an effort to help address the problem.

School of Health Sciences students hone their teambased skills in two primary buildings —the new, dedicated SHS building on the Vermillion campus, and the recentlytransformed University of South Dakota-Sioux Falls building (formerly the Community College for Sioux Falls).

Both facilities are state-of-the-art and are designed to efficiently facilitate collaborative learning, accommodate larger class sizes, and offer true-to-life-clinical environments.

Glacial Lakes Orthopedics in Watertown becomes a part of Prairie Lakes Orthopedics, expanding

The expanded Kirby Place hospitality house opens near the campus of Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls.

ON OUR COVER

Advanced Stroke Care at Monument Health

Dr. Jae Kim and Dr. Lien Diep

EXCERPT

Stroke can be debilitating —and even deadly— no matter where it occurs. But when a stroke happens in an area without ready access to neurointerventional stroke specialists and cutting-edge clot retrieval technology, the risk is even higher. Until recently, that was the situation for many Black Hills area stroke victims.

“In the time it takes to send someone to Sioux Falls for neurointerventional treatment, lives were being lost,” says neurologist Lien Diep, MD, medical director

One

of Monument Health’s new stroke program.

critical step on the path to a comprehensive stroke program in the Black Hills was the addition of

Drs. Patrick Kelly, Angelo Santos, Gregory Missen and Benjamin Jorgensen open a regional vascular clinic, Dakota Vascular, in Sioux Falls.

Patrick Kenney, DO, is named medical director of robotic surgery at MercyOne Siouxland Medical Center

Eldo Frezza, MD, becomes Chief Medical Officer at UnityPoint Health-Sioux City

Douglas Martin, MD, medical director for UnityPoint Health St. Luke’s Occupational Medicine, is installed as President of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

Stephen Pallone, MD, is named VP, Medical Director for UnityPoint Health-Sioux City

Drs. Kim and Diep with Interventional Cardiologist Joseph Tuma, MD

Five Avera Hospitals are named 5-star facilities by CMS: Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, Avera St. Luke’s Hospital in Aberdeen, Avera Queen of Peace Hospital in Mitchell, Avera Heart Hospital in Sioux Falls and Avera Sacred Heart Hospital in Yankton

interventional neurologist Jae Kim, MD. Dr. Kim moved from Sioux Falls to Rapid City last spring to join the Monument Health Neurology and Rehabilitation Clinic.

Another important piece was a new hybrid operating room, an advanced procedural space that combines a traditional operating room with an imageguided interventional suite. The room is home to a state-of-the art biplane cineangiography system which produces sophisticated real-time, three-dimensional imaging of vessels deeps in the head and neck.

“I came to Monument because I saw what they were creating and I wanted to be part of that growth,” says Dr. Kim. ❖

MercyOne becomes a full member of Trinity Health System based in Livonia, Michigan.

Dr. Ashlesha Kaushik, pediatric infectious disease medical director at UnityPoint Health-Sioux City, is named 2022 Immunization Emerging Leader by the National Conference for Immunization Coalitions and Partnerships.

CNOS breaks ground on a 6,500 square foot imaging center for the Siouxland community.

Huron Regional Medical Center and Northern Plains Health Network affiliate hospitals in Madison and Brookings receive $1.5 million to fund a program to improve respiratory therapy in rural facilities.

The Sioux Falls Va Health Care System receives the Most Improved in Outpatient Experience Award.

Sanford researcher Kurt Warnhoff, PHD, receives a $2 million grant for his work on the biology of the molybdenum cofactor.

Sanford Health’s chief nursing officer, Erica DeBoer, RN, presents the keynote presentation at the 39th annual National Oncology Conference of the Association of Community Cancer Centers.

We loook forward to another year of celebrating world class healthcare in the Upper Midwest!

SANFORD HEALTH’S HYBRID CLINICAL TRIAL PROGRAM GIVES LOCAL CANCER PATIENTS MORE OPTIONS

Headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Sanford Research is a premier biomedical research institute that works to innovate healthcare in the Midwest and beyond through scientific discovery.

With a team of over 250 researchers, Sanford Research supports bench, translational and clinical research across eight broad fields of study, including behavioral science, cancer biology and immunotherapies, pediatrics and rare diseases and more.

Sanford Research is currently involved in over 300 clinical trials that aim to improve the treatment, prevention, detection or survivorship of a wide range of diseases, from diabetes, cystic fibrosis and COVID-19 to eating disorders and cancers.

Cancer is often the center of attention due to its immense impact on the American public. Through its NIH-funded Cancer Biology Research Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (CoBRE), Sanford Research is identifying the biological mechanisms that cause cancer, studying the

role of the immune system in fighting cancer and investigating new treatments through a robust clinical trial program.

A HYBRID MODEL

Sanford Research is a communitybased clinical research program. As an integrated healthcare system that spans 250,000 square miles, patients are treated in their communities, or close to home, rather than at an academic center.

Often, community-based programs only offer access to clinical trials later in development, while larger academic research centers offer studies in early phases of development.

Lora Black, executive director of clinical research at Sanford Research, said Sanford Health is unique in its ability to offer phase 1 clinical trials to cancer patients in its own community centers.

“It’s rare for a community-based site to offer early-phase trials,” Black said. “Usually, community-based sites are looking at the phase 3 trials, or maybe some phase 2s.”

“We’re at the point where we’re conducting phase 1s, which means we’re bringing cutting-edge options to patients here at home. Having a broader portfolio makes us more of a hybrid site because we’re able to open trials across many levels of development.”

Steven Powell, MD, a medical oncologist and researcher at Sanford Health, currently oversees more than 10 clinical trials investigating novel cancer drugs. As a clinician-scientist, Dr. Powell works to get new treatments —especially targeted therapies and immunotherapies— from bench to bedside.

He and his colleagues have studied exciting innovations like immune checkpoint inhibitors, oncolytic viruses, cytokine therapies, antibody-drug conjugates and even cell-based therapies for cancer treatment.

Dr. Powell believes Sanford Research has built a strong clinical trial program and reputation with its hybrid model.

“When you look at cancer therapy, people often think of the big centers,”

Dr. Powell said. “Those centers though are probably only treating 5 to 10% of the patients that actually get diagnosed with cancer, and people are traveling long distances to get their care.”

“At our center, we’re doing cancer research where it needs to happen and treating people where they live. This is the real population, and we’re learning how these treatments work in that population. I think that’s where we’ve shown our strength.”

He went on: “We have a lot of options that rival what is available at some of the major research centers in the country. We’re starting to see patients coming from outside of Sanford for our clinical trials.”

CLINICAL TRIALS CLOSE TO HOME

Sanford Research offers cancer clinical trials at six primary performance sites: Sioux Falls, SD; Fargo, ND; Bismarck, ND; Bemidji, MN; Worthington, MN; and Thief River Falls, MN. The sites collaborate to advance cancer research and care across the Midwest.

“We treat cancer as an enterprise-wide effort. All our sites work together,” Dr. Powell said. “We get clinical trials sent to us from all over the world. We review them and pick the trials that we think are best for patients in our communities.”

Giving patients access to early-phase clinical trials close to home can be a game-changer for their treatment. Travel is one of the biggest barriers to receiving the cutting-edge, investigational treatment options that, until recently, were only available at academic research centers in highly populated areas.

Sherra vanDonkersgoed, a Sanford Health nurse navigator who helps connect cancer patients to early-phase clinical trials in Sioux Falls, emphasized the importance of keeping patients close to home.

“With cancer care, your support group is so important,” vanDonkersgoed said. “When you have to move from your support group to get your care, that’s not healthy for anybody involved. If we can keep the care here at home, at a high level, that’s really best for the patient.”

Oncology nurse navigators like vanDonkersgoed play a key role in Sanford Health’s team approach to cancer care. They make the treatment process more efficient and effective by helping patients overcome the obstacles that might keep them from getting better, including treatment side effects, financial barriers and health illiteracy.

When cancer patients must travel to access clinical trials at Sanford Health, vanDonkersgoed helps make

the process as painless as possible.

“We contract with all our studies to assist patients with expenses for travel, lodging and meals,” she said.

“We even hold trials that will offer reimbursement for flights if needed.”

In her navigator role, vanDonkersgoed also fields inquiries from providers outside of Sanford Health wanting to refer patients.

“I can talk with them about options for their patient, whether it’s a drug in the early phases of clinical trials, a treatment in a later phase or even just a second opinion,” she said.

But that’s not the only way Sanford Research identifies and obtains patients for trials, according to Black.

“We’re able to work with physicians to screen patients through their

schedules and identify opportunities to discuss options at the patient’s appointment,” she said. “At times, we’re able to embed a clinical research coordinator at the clinic so that they can work alongside physicians and patients.”

Providers can learn more about Sanford Research’s cancer clinical trial program, including current options for patients, by visiting research.sanfordhealth.org or calling (605) 328-1368. ❖

AVERA

Avera Careflight was named Program of the Year by the Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS). AAMS is a trade association that represents and advocates on behalf of air medical teams to support their ability to deliver quality, safe, and effective medical care and medical transportation for every patient in need of care and services. Avera’s Careflight service has base locations in Sioux Falls, Aberdeen and Pierre and serves a five-state region. Avera Careflight leaders accepted the award at the AAMS annual

MONUMENT

Robotic-assisted technology is now in use at Monument Health Rapid City Hospital. The Intuitive Ion platform allows pulmonologists to perform minimally invasive biopsies and other challenging tasks, like obtaining tissue samples from otherwise hard to reach areas using a thin, maneuverable catheter. Ion provides a planned path based on a patient’s CT scan allowing physicians to target specific areas of a patient’s lungs. It also allows tracking for multiple biopsy attempts. It is designed to work alongside Monument Health’s existing technology and allows for higher precision during biopsies with reduced risk to the patient.

The Monument Health Heart and Vascular Institute’s Structural Heart Team recently completed its 500th transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedure. The Structural Heart Team performed the first TAVR in Rapid City in 2014. This procedure was initially recommended for patients deemed too high-risk for surgery. TAVR is now approved for all patients with symptomatic aortic stenosis, regardless of surgical risk. Ongoing trials are evaluating ways to expand what types of patients can benefit from a TAVR procedure. Monument Health Heart and Vascular Institute was one of only 10 centers in the country selected to participate in the EXPAND TAVR II Clinical Trial, and is currently enrolling patients.

SANFORD

Sanford Health has been recognized by Military Times for being one of the best employers across the country for veterans. This is the fourth year in a row Sanford Health has been honored on this list. In the past year, Sanford Health has increased the number of veterans in its workforce by 6% and the number of active National Guard and Army Reserve members by 16%.

Sanford Imagenetics is offering free pharmacogenomics (PGx) testing to those who have served or individuals currently serving in the military. PGx testing helps provide patients with information on how they process certain medications, which can help doctors make more informed decisions about treatments and care plans for patients. The PGx testing is free for all veteran and active military patients who receive their primary care at Sanford Health.

Happenings around the region

JOHN SNYDER EMILY GRIESE

John Snyder, president of Sanford Health Plan and Emily Griese, PhD, chief operating and population health officer at Sanford Health Plan, presented at the Becker’s CEO + CFO Roundtable Nov. 9 and 10 in Chicago. The roundtable brings healthcare leaders from across the country together to share ideas and exchange best practices.

INDRA CHANDRASEKAR

Indra Chandrasekar, PhD, researcher at Sanford Health, recently received a $1.9 million grant for her work studying a group of genes that are associated with kidney disease in humans. Her lab will further investigate the role of actin cytoskeleton and associated molecular motor proteins in cellular transport pathways related to kidney disease. Results from the studies done through this grant will benefit the understanding of genetic disorders that compromises both glomerular and tubular kidney function.

LUIS GARCIA

Luis Garcia, MD, FACS, MBA, president of clinic at Sanford Health, joined the two-day Manevia Forum as a panelist in October at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The focus of the panel in which Dr. Garcia participated was titled: “Global Health Crisis and Increase in Mental Health Instability.” Garcia was joined on the panel by Dr. Daniel Gbujie, a clinical research assistant at Sanford Health.

SIOUXLAND

JOSEPH LIEWER

The MercyOne Siouxland Medical Center Foundation has named emergency physician Dr. Joseph Liewer as the 2022 recipient of the Dr. George G. Spellman Annual Service Award. Dr. Liewer attended medical school at the University of Nebraska and completed his residency in emergency medicine at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. For over 30 years, A native of Osmond, Nebraska, Dr. Liewer, has served the Siouxland community as an ER physician at MercyOne Siouxland Medical Center for over 30 years.

UnityPoint Health–St. Luke’s Foundation and the Children’s Miracle Network revealed the new pediatric inpatient unit renovation in early October. The $325,000 renovation was made possible by donations from Dr. Lee and Ruth Van Voorhis, a former physician and medical director, and The Gilchrist Foundation. It features a jungle theme, a six-foot leaf sculpture, colorful floor-to-ceiling Acrovyn art pieces, and wood floors with a flowing design reminiscent of water, St. Luke’s also partnered with local artists from Art SUX Gallery to commission three paintings.

MercyOne’s Singing Hills Urgent Care in Sioux City moved to a new location on November 14. The new clinic at 3500 Singing Hills Boulevard is just a stone’s throw away from its former location.

Love’s Travel Stops’ annual Balloon and Round-Up campaign raised over $15,000 for Siouxland’s local Children’s Miracle Network Hospital, UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s© Love’s locations across the nation came together to change kids’ health and to change the future. The campaign ran from August 26 to September 30. Siouxland’s two locations, based in Sioux City, Iowa and Norfolk, Nebraska, raised over $15,000 for local kids, which is an increase of more than $5,000 from the previous year. The new Love’s Travel Stop location that opened late fall in Le Mars, IA will join next year’s campaign to help raise funds for the kids of Siouxland.

INDEPENDENTS

Mitchell Technical College will expand its Radiologic Technology department thanks to a gift from Avera. Avera will match what Mitchell Tech has budgeted for the expansion project, which includes the addition of a GE Definium Tempo fixed X-ray system in a state-of-the-art facility inside renovated space within the Campus Center building. The program’s four instructors will be able to simultaneously work with three groups of students in their updated department, which will now feature two traditional lab spaces, with an improved mobile lab acting as a pass-through emergency department.

Jean Mitchell

Degree: Master of Public Health

Current Position: Occupational Therapist, Faulkton Area Medical Center

Like many professionals, Jean Mitchell, an occupational therapist at Faulkton Area Medical Center, had planned to continue her education after OT school. Then, life happened.

"I got married and had children and I was working," says Mitchell. She was also living in rural Redfield, where access to higher education can be a challenge.

When Mitchell eventually did have the bandwidth to go back to school, the University of South Dakota School of Health Sciences' online program offered her an affordable way to earn another degree without having to leave her family, her rural community, or her full-time job.

"I considered getting a doctorate in occupational therapy, but I figured I'm already a practicing OT, so I didn't see much benefit in that," says Mitchell. Instead, she settled on the School of Health Sciences' Master in Public Health program, a program she hoped would help support her work on the board of the Northeast SD Area Health Education Center (AHEC).

“AHEC works to ensure a healthy workforce, support healthcare workers, and encourage kids to go into healthcare,” says Mitchell. “I thought this degree would help me run better community education classes and start new programs in our community.”

In fact, Mitchell was doing that even before she graduated. As part of her applied practical experience, she initiated a partnership that helped bring two evidencedbased exercise programs to Faulkton - programs that are still running today.

“The MPH helped make me aware of all the different players on the field and get good at bringing them together for coordinated services,” she says. “If we can affect the group, we are going to affect the individual.”

This SUCCESS SPOTLIGHT brought to you by:

USD.EDU/HEALTH

STEVEN MEYER

Orthopaedic Surgeon Steven Meyer, MD, of the CNOS clinic in Dakota Dunes, has been selected as the 2022 Lawrence D. Door, MD Humanitarian Award recipient by the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons Humanitarian Committee.

Through STEMM (Siouxland Tanzania Educational Medical Ministry), an organization he founded, Dr. Meyer has provided more than 1,000 free surgeries, imported over $5 million dollars of equipment, and spent countless hours educating healthcare professionals to provide care in Tanzania.

On January 3rd 2023, Midlands Clinic will be joining CNOS. The two Midlands Clinic locations will ONLY see a name change. CNOS and Midlands patients can expect to keep their same provider at the same locations throughout the transition.

Huron Regional Medical Center board of directors recently approved a $2.45 million dialysis renovation and relocation project. The HRMC dialysis treatment unit will relocate to 142 Third Street SE, when renovations are complete. The new location in the building previously occupied by Women’s Wellness Center will provide more convenient access for dialysis patients. Renovations will expand the unit to twelve treatment chairs, increasing the capacity for providing the service locally. The current dialysis unit houses seven chairs and can serve up to 21 patients per week.

The University of South Dakota’s Department of Nursing will receive $1,050,000 in grant money from the Health Resources and Services Administration over the next three years to increase the number of nurses in rural and underserved areas in South Dakota. The money will be used to strengthen rural nursing skills and increase the diversity of the nursing workforce, recruiting students from varied backgrounds, including students from tribal lands and rural areas, who will then go on to practice in South Dakota’s underserved communities spanning the entire state.

PEACE OF MIND

BEYOND

COVERAGE

As a premier medical liability insurance carrier, we are committed to you. We are extended members of your team to help answer questions or navigate difficult situations. And when it’s urgent, you have 24/7 access to a physician via our Risk Management Hotline. That’s Value Beyond Coverage.

Prairie Lakes Healthcare System is now offering a neuromuscular electrical stimulation treatment for dysphagia. Over the course of multiple sessions, the treatment modality, called Vital Stim, delivers a carefully calibrated current to the motor nerves in the face and throat to help retrain the muscles that produce a swallow. The Vital Stim unit also provides biofeedback to assist the patient in learning new swallow maneuvers and to see the progress being made, which is a key piece in providing effective treatment. Two PLHS speech-language pathologists are trained and certified to treat qualified patients with this new FDA-cleared therapy.

Vital Stim Certified SLPs, Mariko Oro and Shelly Holida with Vital Stim Device

KIRSTEN BLACKWELL

Speech Language Pathologist and Watertown native Kirsten Blackwell has joined the Rehabilitation department at Prairie Lakes Healthcare System. Blackwell graduated from Augustana and earned her MS in Speech Language Pathology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She has special interest in pediatric speech therapy and cognition. Prairie Lakes now has three Speech Language Pathologists.

CHELSEA AND TODD HODENFIELD

Physical Therapist Todd Hodenfield and Occupational Therapist Chelsea Hodenfield have joined the Rehab and Therapy Services team at Prairie Lakes Healthcare System. Chelsea Hodenfield grew up in Sioux Falls and earned her Master of Science in OT from USD. Todd Hodenfield grew up in North Dakota and earned his DPT from the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. He later completed an Orthopaedic Physical Therapy Residency with Evidence in Motion.

STRONGER TOGETHER.

Comprehensive vascular healthcare solutions are coming to small town patients in South Dakota, southern Minnesota, and throughout the region. With the opening of Dakota Vascular, patients surrounding Sioux Falls will now have expanded access to arterial and venous disease treatments from four specialists with a combined 35 years of experience. From their primary clinic in Sioux Falls, the surgeons of Dakota Vascular can offer outreach to small towns, as well as same-day appointments locally and telemedicine appointments.

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WELCOMING (TOP TO BOTTOM, L TO R)

Sarah Bligh, MD • Michelle Daffer, MD • James Hegvik, MD Paul Johnson, MD • Jeffrey Michalak, DO • Craig Nemechek, MD William Rizk, MD • Lawrence Volz, MD

Partnering in Excellence

We are excited to begin this new partnership on January 1, 2023. As the healthcare needs of Siouxland continue to grow, CNOS welcomes new members to our team to ensure the specialty services our patients require are convenient, comprehensive and close to home.

REFER TO 605-217-2667, OPTION 7.

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