As a health system that reaches across a vast rural footprint of 86 counties in a five-state region, Avera is designed to provide care, near home, for women and children.

Women’s health encompasses a tremendous breadth throughout the lifespan, encompassing everything from obstetrical care, gynecologic health and family building to menopause, bone health, breast health and complex conditions like cancer, diabetes and heart disease.

“When you see the services, like birthing, that we keep in rural communities, rather than always bringing patients to Sioux Falls, you can tell that that’s where our passion lies,” said Mara Hermiston, DO, chief medical officer for Avera Medical Group.

“Healthy families, healthy moms, healthy women — that is the basis for everything else,” said Katherine Wang, MD, Avera neonatologist and Clinical vice president of the Women’s and Children’s Service Line. “Our mission of caring for women and children started with the Sisters and we carry this work forward.” Avera utilizes a service line model to unify and bring together clinicians from Avera hospitals and clinics that offer care to women and children.

Avera’s continuum of care for women and children ranges from family practitioners, family practitioners who offer obstetrics, obstetrician/gynecologists, midwives, maternal-fetal medicine specialists, internal medicine for women, urogynecologist, neonatologists, gynecologic oncologists, breast specialists, pediatricians, pediatric subspecialists and more.

Clinicians can count on an integrated network of support and expertise to help care for patients with a wide range of issues.

“In Pierre, we cover a large area so we’re isolated, but we’re not an island. We’re not alone,” said Amy Lueking, MD, Avera OB/GYN specialist in Pierre, S.D.

The right care at the right time involves ongoing communication between rural clinics, community hospitals, the large referral (tertiary) medical center, highly experienced transport teams and subspecialists. This collaboration leverages everyone’s specialized knowledge, as well as innovative tools including telemedicine.

By keeping care local, when possible, with quality and safety, Avera helps women in rural areas experience the same high outcomes while remaining close to loved ones throughout their care journeys.

Rural physicians and clinicians stand shoulder-to-shoulder with a network of specialists so that they are not making decisions alone, which is especially important in unexpected cases such as postpartum hemorrhage or the arrival of a premature baby. Careflight air transport has maternal and neonatal specialized staff and equipment to support women and families in emergencies, and a robust telemedicine system offers immediate connection.

The construction of the women’s and children’s tower in Sioux Falls is a physical representation of the health system’s dedication to the two populations — a visual cue of the high-level care Avera has already been providing.

“As a system, we’re making sure we’re using our resources wisely, sharing expertise and specialties from larger centers but then also using our clinicians in small towns to their highest capacity and capability,” said Paul Berndt, MD, Avera family medicine/obstetrics physician in Parkston, SD. “We need to be able to provide great obstetrical care, newborn care and pediatric care in our small towns. That’s how our facilities and our communities continue to grow.”