Avera Marshall introduces vice president of Mission Services

Avera Marshall Regional Medical Center in Marshall welcomes Beringia Zen, Ph.D., in the role of vice president of Mission for the Avera Marshall region. 

Zen comes to Avera with 15 years of experience in health care chaplaincy, mission leadership and higher education theology instruction. Prior to moving to Marshall, she served as the manager of spiritual care for Saint Agnes Medical Center in Fresno, Calif. since 2019. Her prior experience includes working in chaplaincy and management at hospitals in Kansas City, Mo. and Bakersfield and Los Angeles, Calif. She also held assistant professor and instructor roles at universities in Kansas City and Berkeley, Calif.

Zen is board certified through the National Association of Catholic Chaplains. She holds a doctor of philosophy in religious studies and theology as well as a master’s degree in biblical languages — both from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Calif. She also earned a master of divinity from the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley.

As the vice president of Mission, Beringia provides executive leadership of mission integration across the Avera Marshall region. She works with staff and providers, managing efforts related to education on the Avera mission, heritage and values, community benefit, pastoral and spiritual care, ethics and integrated mission planning.

“Our mission is central to everything we do at Avera. Having a leader in this role helps to maintain and further our focus on our mission and fosters an environment consistent with the healing ministry of Jesus. Beringia is well equipped to advance this important work as a living and breathing foundation for our regional team,” said Debbie Streier, Avera Marshall Regional President and CEO.

“I chose to join the administrative team for the Avera Marshall region because, from my first visit, the administration’s commitment to providing high quality health care grounded in the values of compassion, hospitality, and stewardship was so evident. Since my arrival at Avera, I have seen these values being lived out daily in our clinics and hospitals as staff work with each other and patients to create an atmosphere focused on healing the whole person — body, mind, and spirit,” Zens said.

North Star receives Ward’s Top 50 achievement

On July 20, the Ward Group named North Star Mutual to their list of 2021 Ward’s 50 Top Performing Property-Casualty Insurance Companies for the 17th consecutive year. The Ward Group is the leading provider of operational and compensation benchmarking and best practices services for insurance companies. The Ward Group analyzes the financial performance of nearly 2,900 property-casualty insurance companies across the nation and identifies the top performers in each segment based on objective data and subjective quality measures. Each company on the 2021 list has passed all safety and consistency screens and achieved superior financial performance over a five-year period (2016-2020).

“It is an honor to be selected once again to the Ward’s Top 50,” said President and CEO, Pete Hellie, “It is a special recognition to the efforts of the North Star Mutual staff and the continued great support from our independent agents.”

North Star donates to Cottonwood Area Community Foundation

North Star Mutual Insurance Company presented two checks totaling $10,000 to the Cottonwood Area Community Foundation. General Re, a long-time reinsurance partner of North Star Mutual, donated $5,000 as part of their “100 Acts of Kindness” initiative in honor of both their 100th anniversary and North Star Mutual’s 100th anniversary in 2020. In celebration of these events, North Star Mutual also matched this donation of $5,000 to the foundation.

NSIC renews corporate partnership with North Star Mutual Insurance Company

Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Commissioner Erin Lind announced that the league has renewed a corporate partnership with North Star Mutual Insurance Company. A dedicated supporter, North Star Mutual enters its seventh year in partnership with the NSIC.

“The NSIC is excited to continue its relationship with North Star Mutual. Partnering with them has insured vast opportunities to celebrate the NSIC student-athlete over the years. We are grateful to extend this relationship into the future,” said Lind.

“The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference partnership is a great match for North Star Mutual Insurance Company,” said Larry Johnson, senior vice president. “Our stakeholders include policyholders, employees, and vibrant communities throughout the footprint of this conference. In addition, the NSIC’s commitment to both quality higher education as well as excellence in athletics has clearly shown North Star Mutual the value of investing with this focused, goal-driven organization.”