{{Short description|Regional U.S. healthcare system serving several Midwestern states}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox company | name = Avera Health | logo = 220px|Avera logo | type = Non-Profit | founded = {{start date and age|1897}} | location = Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States | key_people = Jim Dover, FACHE, President & CEO | industry = Healthcare | website = {{URL|https://www.avera.org/}} }}
'''Avera Health''' is a regional health system based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States, comprising more than 300 locations in 100 communities throughout South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and North Dakota.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=About Avera Health |url=https://www.avera.org/about/ |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=www.avera.org}}</ref> Avera serves a geographical footprint of more than 72,000 square miles and 86 counties, and a population of nearly 1 million.<ref name=":0" />
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 secure locations<ref>{{cite web|title=Improving Hospital Security with ID Badges|url=http://www.idwholesaler.com/resource-center/case-studies/avera/|website=IDWholesaler.com|publisher=Plasco ID|accessdate=26 October 2016|ref=Security Badges|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161027062959/http://www.idwholesaler.com/resource-center/case-studies/avera/|archive-date=27 October 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> across the five-state region.<ref>{{Cite web|title = 100 Integrated Health Systems to Know|url = http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/lists/100-integrated-health-systems-to-know.html|website = www.beckershospitalreview.com|accessdate = 2015-09-18|first = Sabrina|last = Rodak}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{Cite web|title = CareerMD {{!}} Avera Medical Group Snapshot|url = https://www.careermd.com/physicians/careerfairs/employersnapshot.aspx?pid=24444263|website = www.careermd.com|accessdate = 2015-09-18}}</ref>
In addition to care, Avera Health Plans was created in 1999 to offer affordable health insurance and a large network of providers.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Avera Health Plans - South Dakota Health Insurance Plans from Avera Health Plans|url = https://www.ehealthinsurance.com/health-insurance-companies/avera-south-dakota|website = www.ehealthinsurance.com|accessdate = 2015-09-18}}</ref> 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.”
== History == Avera came into existence when two orders of religious women—the Benedictine Sisters of Yankton, South Dakota,<ref>{{cite web|url = http://yanktonbenedictines.org/who-we-are/our-history/|title=Our History|website = Yankton Benedictines Sacred Heart Ministry|accessdate = 26 August 2015}}</ref> and the Presentation Sisters of Aberdeen, South Dakota<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.presentationsisters.org/about/history/|website = Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary|accessdate = 26 August 2015|title=History}}</ref>—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.
== Services ==
=== Avera eCARE === Avera has provided virtual care that dates back to 1993.<ref name="Avera's inadvertent innovation">{{cite web|last1 = Schwan|first1 = Jodi|title = Avera's inadvertent innovation|url = https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/business-journal/2015/05/31/schwan-averas-inadvertent-innovation/28243663/|website = Argus Leader|publisher = Gannett|accessdate = 26 August 2015}}</ref> eCARE uses interactive video and technology to connect with outlying sites through a virtual hospital based in Sioux Falls.<ref name="Avera's inadvertent innovation"/> eCARE partners with hospitals to provide increased access to specialists through: * eICU CARE<ref>{{cite web|last1 = Tomsic|first1 = Michael|title = Hospitals Monitor ICU Patients Virtually, From Many Miles Away|url = http://wfae.org/post/hospitals-monitor-icu-patients-virtually-many-miles-away|website = WFAE 90.7|date = 14 April 2015|accessdate = 26 August 2015}}</ref> * eEmergency<ref>{{cite web|last1 = Iverson|first1 = Jake|title = Avera Medical Minute AMcK: eCare telemedicine receives(sic) federal focus|url = http://www.ksfy.com/home/headlines/Avera-Medical-Minute-AMcK-eCare-telemedicine-recieves-federal-focus-289499781.html|website = KSFY|accessdate = 26 August 2015}}</ref> * eConsult<ref>{{cite web|title = Avera Receives Grant To Expand Rural Telemedicine|url = http://www.yankton.net/healthlines/article_e037a198-9772-11e3-959f-0019bb2963f4.html|website = Yankton Press & Dakotan|accessdate = 26 August 2015}}</ref> * ePharmacy<ref>{{cite web|last1 = Page|first1 = Douglas|title = 2011 Most Wired Innovator Awards|url = http://www.hhnmag.com/Magazine/2011/Aug/0811HHN_Feature_MostWired|website = Hospital & Health Networks|accessdate = 26 August 2015}}</ref> * eLongTermCare * eCorrectional Health<ref>{{cite web|title = Avera eCARE Celebrates Milestone Anniversaries|url = http://www.midwestmedicaledition.com/2014/10/23/48970/avera-ecare-celebrates-milestone-anniversaries|website = Midwest Medical Edition|accessdate = 26 August 2015}}</ref>
Avera eCARE was sold to Aquiline Capital Partners in the fourth quarter of 2021 and rebranded as Avel eCare.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Avera Health Announces Acquisition of Avera eCare by Aquiline Capital Partners |url=https://www.avera.org/news-media/news/2021/avel-transition/ |access-date=2022-09-13 |website=www.avera.org |language=en}}</ref>
=== Avera Careflight === Avera health has operated an air ambulance since May 1986.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Miranda Paige |title=Avera Medical Minute: Careflight celebrates 35 years |url=https://www.dakotanewsnow.com/2021/08/03/avera-medical-minute-careflight-celebrates-35-years/ |access-date=2023-01-29 |website=www.dakotanewsnow.com |language=en}}</ref>
=== Research, genomics and genetics === Avera’s genomics team involves multiple professionals locally and internationally. Working primarily with breast and gynecologic cancer patients, this team uses genetic analysis to recommend therapies targeted to fight an individual tumor.<ref>{{cite web|last1 = Iverson|first1 = Jake|title = Avera Medical Minute AMcK: genomic sequencing for help in treating cancer|url = http://www.ksfy.com/home/headlines/Avera-Medical-Minute-AMcK-genomic-sequencing-for-help-in-treating-cancer----298081851.html|website = KSFY}}</ref> The Avera Institute for Human Genetics offers personalized medicine for pain management,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Walker |first1=Jon |title=Avera Health to start matching pain killers with genetics |url=http://archive.argusleader.com/article/20131219/NEWS/312180066/Avera-Health-start-matching-pain-killers-genetics |website=Argus Leader |publisher=Gannett |accessdate=26 August 2015 }}{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> behavioral health<ref>{{cite web|last1 = Jake|first1 = Iverson|title = Avera Medical Minute AMcK: Personalized medicine for behavioral health patients|url = http://www.ksfy.com/home/headlines/Avera-Medical-Minute-AMcK-personalized-medicine-for-behavioral-health-patients-303492761.html|website = KSFY|accessdate = 26 August 2015}}</ref> and more, plus DNA analysis as part of the world’s largest twin study, the Netherlands Twins Register (NTR).<ref>{{cite web|last1=Schwan |first1=Jodi |title=Avera's international research partnership grows |url=http://archive.argusleader.com/article/20131002/BJNEWS04/310020015/Avera-s-international-research-partnership-grows |website=Argus Leader |publisher=Gannett |accessdate=26 August 2015 }}{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The Avera Research Institute is conducts clinical trials,<ref>{{cite web|title=Exemestane with or without Entinostat in Treating Patients with Recurrent Hormone Receptor-Positive Breast Cancer That is Locally Advanced or Metastatic|url = http://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/clinical-trials/search/view?cdrid=760055&version=HealthProfessional&protocolsearchid=13504589|website = National Cancer Institute}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Tamoxifen Citrate, Letrozole, Anastrozole, or Exemestane with or without Chemotherapy in Treating Patients with Invasive RxPONDER Breast Cancer|url = http://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/clinical-trials/search/view?cdrid=692475&version=HealthProfessional&protocolsearchid=9263593|website = National Cancer Institute}}</ref> cancer registries for breast<ref>{{cite web|title = Breast Cancer Registry|url = http://www.northerngreatplainsoncology.org/network/breast-cancer-registry/|website = Northern Great Plains Oncology|accessdate = 26 August 2015|url-status = dead|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20151009191817/http://www.northerngreatplainsoncology.org/network/breast-cancer-registry/|archivedate = 9 October 2015}}</ref> and thyroid tumors, 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<ref>{{cite web|last1 = Iverson|first1 = Jake|title = Avera Medical Minute: IntraOperative Electron Radiation Therapy|url = http://www.ksfy.com/home/headlines/Avera-Medical-Minute-IntraOperat-279083561.html|website = KSFY|accessdate = 26 August 2015}}</ref> 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,<ref>{{cite web|title=Landmark transplant reflects surgical leap |url=http://archive.argusleader.com/article/20120820/NEWS/308200018/Landmark-transplant-reflects-surgical-leap |website=Argus Leader |last=Walker |first=Jon }}{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> in addition to pancreas and liver transplant. In 1996, Avera began the region’s only Bone Marrow Transplant program,{{citation needed|date=June 2020}} providing both allogeneic and autologous stem cell transplantation.
=== Clinics and centers === Through its 300 locations, Avera contains various facilities: * 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
== Locations == The Avera Central Office is based in Sioux Falls, S.D., with six regional centers: * Avera St. Luke’s Hospital, Aberdeen, South Dakota * Avera Marshall Regional Medical Center, Marshall, Minnesota * Avera Queen of Peace Hospital, Mitchell, South Dakota * Avera St. Mary’s Hospital, Pierre, South Dakota. * Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota * Avera Sacred Heart Hospital, Yankton, South Dakota
=== Other Locations === *Avera Behavioral Health Center - 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 *Brookings and Avera Medical Group - Brookings, South Dakota<ref>{{Cite web|last=Brookings|title=Access Health – Brookings & Avera Medical Group Brookings - Brookings, SD|url=https://www.avera.org/locations/profile/access-health-brookings-and-avera-medical-group-brookings/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-02-23|website=www.avera.org|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126101142/https://www.avera.org/locations/profile/access-health-brookings-and-avera-medical-group-brookings/ |archive-date=2020-11-26 }}</ref> * 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 * Lakes Regional Healthcare - Spirit Lake, Iowa * Landmann-Jungman Memorial Hospital/Avera - Scotland, South Dakota * Marshall County Healthcare Center/Avera - Britton, South Dakota * 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
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Official website}}
{{South Dakota Trauma Centers}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Companies based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota Category:Medical and health organizations based in South Dakota Category:Hospital networks in the United States