Avera Health

Avera Health

Type	Non-Profit
Industry	Healthcare
Founded	1897
Headquarters	Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA
Key people	John Porter, President & CEO
Website	www.avera.org

Avera Health is a regional health system based in Sioux Falls, S.D., comprising more than 300 locations in 100 communities throughout South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and North Dakota.^[1] Avera serves a geographical footprint of more than 72,000 square miles and 86 counties, and a population of nearly 1 million.

As a fully integrated health system, Avera Health includes Avera Medical Group, which is composed of physicians and advanced practice providers who serve patients at nearly 200 locations across the five-state region.^[2]

Throughout the region, Avera Health offers care in 60 distinct specialties, including behavioral health, cardiology, oncology, orthopedics, brain and spine, neurosurgery, digestive disease, bariatrics, dermatology, endocrinology and diabetes, ophthalmology, pulmonology and sleep medicine, pain management, neonatology, pediatrics, rheumatology, women’s specialties and more.^[3]

In addition to care, Avera Health Plans was created in 1999 to offer affordable health insurance and a large network of providers.^[4] Today, Avera Health Plans serves individuals, families, and employer groups in South Dakota and Iowa and is the third largest health plan in the state of South Dakota.

With more than 16,000 employees and physicians, Avera is South Dakota’s largest private employer. The name Avera is derived from a Latin term meaning “to be well.”

Locations

The Avera Central Office is based in Sioux Falls, S.D., with six regional centers:

• Avera St. Luke’s Hospital, Aberdeen, S.D.
• Avera Marshall Regional Medical Center, Marshall, Minn.
• Avera Queen of Peace Hospital, Mitchell, S.D.
• Avera St. Mary’s Hospital, Pierre, S.D.
• Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center, Sioux Falls, S.D.
• Avera Sacred Heart Hospital, Yankton, S.D.

Other Locations

• Anesthesiology Associates - 21st Street - Sioux Falls, South Dakota
• Anesthesiology Associates - 26th Street - Sioux Falls, South Dakota
• Avera Behavioral Health Center - Sioux Falls, South Dakota
• Avera Emergency Medicine Physicians - Sioux Falls, South Dakota
• Avera Flandreau Medical Center - Flandreau, South Dakota
• Avera Gettysburg Hospital - Gettysburg, South Dakota
• Avera Gregory Healthcare Center - Gregory, South Dakota
• Avera Heart Hospital of South Dakota - Sioux Falls, South Dakota
• Avera Holy Family Health - Estherville, Iowa
• Avera Milbank Area Hospital - Milbank, South Dakota
• Avera Neonatology - Sioux Falls, South Dakota
• Avera Regional Perinatal Center - Sioux Falls, South Dakota
• Avera St. Anthony's Hospital - O'Neill, Nebraska
• Avera St. Benedict Health Center - Parkston, South Dakota
• Avera St. Benedict Hospital - Parkston, South Dakota
• Avera Weskota Memorial Medical Center - Wessington Springs, South Dakota
• Dells Area Health Center/Avera Health - Dell Rapids, South Dakota
• Divine Providence Health Center/Avera Health - Ivanhoe, Minnesota
• Eureka Community Health Services/Avera - Eureka, South Dakota
• Floyd Valley Hospital/Avera Health - Le Mars, Iowa
• Hand County Memorial Hospital/Avera - Miller, South Dakota
• Hegg Memorial Health Center/Avera - Rock Valley, Iowa
• Landmann-Jungman Memorial Hospital/Avera - Scotland, South Dakota
• Marshall County Healthcare Center/Avera - Britton, South Dakota
• Northwest Iowa Surgeons - Spencer, Iowa
• Osceola Community Hospital - Sibley, Iowa
• Pediatric Critical Care and Hospitalist Service - Sioux Falls, South Dakota
• Pipestone County Medical Center/Avera - Pipestone, Minnesota
• Platte Health Center/Avera - Platte, South Dakota
• Sioux Center Community Hospital & Health Center/Avera - Sioux Center, Iowa
• St. Michael's Hospital and Nursing Home/Avera Health - Tyndall, South Dakota
• Tyler Healthcare Center/Avera - Tyler, Minnesota

History

Avera came into existence when two orders of religious women—the Benedictine Sisters of Yankton, S.D.,^[5] and the Presentation Sisters of Aberdeen, S.D.^[6]—merged their Catholic health care systems into a single entity.

These two religious orders serve as Avera’s sponsors; that is, their association with Avera gives it the status of officially being a work of the Catholic Church.

• Over the years, the Sisters have served in many roles, from governance and administration, to nursing, lab and dietary.
• Their focus is on meeting the health care needs of the communities they serve.

Innovation

Providing access to health care and specialists in rural and underserved communities through innovative programs is central to Avera’s mission.

Avera eCARE

With experience in providing virtual care that dates back to 1993,^[7] Avera has developed the largest and most robust telehealth service in the world.^[8] eCARE uses interactive video and technology to connect with outlying sites through a virtual hospital based in Sioux Falls.^[9] This is the first telehealth center in the world to provide around-the-clock access to board-certified intensivists and emergency physicians, hospital-trained pharmacists and experienced nursing staff. eCARE partners with hospitals to provide increased access to specialists through:

• eICU® CARE^[10]
• eEmergency^[11]
• eConsult^[12]
• ePharmacy^[13]
• eLongTermCare
• eCorrectional Health^[14]

eCARE continues to innovate through pilot projects to reach new populations through e-services, including schools, worksites and more.

Research, Genomics and Genetics

Avera’s genomics team involves multiple experts locally and across the nation and world. Working primarily with breast and gynecologic cancer patients, this team uses genetic analysis to recommend therapies targeted to fight an individual tumor.^[15] The Avera Institute for Human Genetics offers personalized medicine for pain management,^[16] behavioral health^[17] and more, plus DNA analysis as part of the world’s largest twin study, the Netherlands Twins Register (NTR).^[18] The Avera Research Institute is home to clinical trials,^[19][20] cancer registries for breast^[21] and thyroid tumors, dedicated oncology research nurses, and investigator initiated studies.

Since 2011, Avera has been part of an international trial based in Salzburg, Austria, testing a protocol for women age 41 and over with early stage breast cancer that delivers electron-based intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) at the time of lumpectomy^[22] followed by three weeks of external beam radiation therapy, shortening follow-up external beam radiation therapy by three weeks. A new protocol is testing one-time IORT treatment for patients age 60 and over, eliminating the need for additional radiation.

Solid Organ and Bone Marrow Transplant

Avera is home to the region’s longest standing kidney transplant program, established in 1993,^[23] in addition to pancreas and liver transplant. In 1996, Avera began the region’s only Bone Marrow Transplant program, providing both allogeneic and autologous stem cell transplantation.

Continuum of Care

Through its 300 locations, Avera offers the entire continuum of care:

• Primary care clinics and rural clinics
• Specialty clinics
• Tertiary care center
• Community hospitals
• Critical access hospitals
• Specialty heart hospital
• Long-term care and retirement communities
• Behavioral health outpatient and inpatient care for seniors, adults, adolescents and children
• Free-standing outpatient surgery center
• Patient-centered cancer centers
• Sports training and fitness facilities
• Home care and hospice
• Home medical equipment

External links

• Avera Health web site

1. Jones, Shannon. NewsMax http://www.newsmax.com/FastFeatures/employers-in-south-dakota-companies-jobs/2015/04/14/id/637708/. Retrieved 26 August 2015. Missing or empty |title= (help)
2. Rodak, Sabrina. "100 Integrated Health Systems to Know". www.beckershospitalreview.com. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
3. "CareerMD | Avera Medical Group Snapshot". www.careermd.com. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
4. "Avera Health Plans - South Dakota Health Insurance Plans from Avera Health Plans". www.ehealthinsurance.com. Retrieved 2015-09-18.
5. Yankton Benedictines Sacred Heart Ministry http://yanktonbenedictines.org/who-we-are/our-history/. Retrieved 26 August 2015. Missing or empty |title= (help)
6. Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary http://www.presentationsisters.org/about/history/. Retrieved 26 August 2015. Missing or empty |title= (help)
7. Schwan, Jodi. "Avera’s inadvertent innovation". Argus Leader. Gannett. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
8. Verel, Dan. "These five health systems are making the best use of telemedicine". MedCityNews. Breaking Media, Inc. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
9. Schwan, Jodi. "Avera’s inadvertent innovation". Argus Leader. Gannett. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
10. Tomsic, Michael. "Hospitals Monitor ICU Patients Virtually, From Many Miles Away". WFAE 90.7. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
11. Iverson, Jake. "Avera Medical Minute AMcK: eCare telemedicine receives(sic) federal focus". KSFY. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
12. "Avera Receives Grant To Expand Rural Telemedicine". Yankton Press & Dakotan. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
13. Page, Douglas. "2011 Most Wired Innovator Awards". Hospital & Health Networks. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
14. "Avera eCARE Celebrates Milestone Anniversaries". Midwest Medical Edition. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
15. Iverson, Jake. "Avera Medical Minute AMcK: genomic sequencing for help in treating cancer". KSFY.
16. Walker, Jon. "Avera Health to start matching pain killers with genetics". Argus Leader. Gannett. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
17. Jake, Iverson. "Avera Medical Minute AMcK: Personalized medicine for behavioral health patients". KSFY. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
18. Schwan, Jodi. "Avera's international research partnership grows". Argus Leader. Gannett. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
19. National Cancer Institute http://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/clinical-trials/search/view?cdrid=760055&version=HealthProfessional&protocolsearchid=13504589. Missing or empty |title= (help)
20. National Cancer Institute http://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/clinical-trials/search/view?cdrid=692475&version=HealthProfessional&protocolsearchid=9263593. Missing or empty |title= (help)
21. "Breast Cancer Registry". Northern Great Plains Oncology. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
22. Iverson, Jake. "Avera Medical Minute: IntraOperative Electron Radiation Therapy". KSFY. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
23. Walker. "Landmark transplant reflects surgical leap". Argus Leader. |first2= missing |last2= in Authors list (help)