Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center

Description

About Avera McKennan
As a member of Avera Health the regions largest and strongest health care network our patients receive excellent care of the highest clinical quality close to home

Within our network are more than 300 care locations in 82 communities in five states including hospitals primary care clinics specialty care clinics long term care facilities retirement communities home medical equipment outlets and research centers

Mission
Avera is a health ministry rooted in the Gospel Our mission is to make a positive impact in the lives and health of persons and communities by providing quality services guided by Christian values

Vision
Working with its partners Avera shall provide a quality costeffective health ministry which reflects Gospel values We shall improve the health care of the people we serve through a regionally integrated network of persons and institutions

Values
In caring together for life the Avera community is guided by the gospel values of compassion hospitality and stewardship

Compassion The compassion of Jesus especially for the poor and the sick of
body and spirit shapes the manner in which health care is delivered by
Averas employees physicians administrators volunteers and sponsors
Compassionate caring is expressed through sensitive listening and responding
understanding support patience and healing touch


Hospitality The encounters of Jesus with each person were typified by
openness and mutuality A welcoming presence an attentiveness to needs and
a gracious manner seasoned with a sense of humor are expressions of
hospitality in and by the Avera community


Stewardship Threaded through the mission of Jesus was the restoration of all
the world to right relationship with its Creator In that same spirit and
mission the members of Avera treat persons organizational power and earths
resources with justice and responsibility Respect truth and integrity are
foundational to right relationships among those who serve and those who are
served

History

Our History
The ministry of the Benedictine Sisters has roots that run 15 centuries deep to Rome and the founders of the Benedictines St Benedict of Nursia and his twin sister St Scholastica The Rule St Benedict wrote for monastic living continues to guide monastic life today Benedictine Sisters first came to South Dakota from Maryville Mo at the invitation of Bishop Martin Marty OSB to work in the new Dakota Territory and start a new foundation They homesteaded in Zell South Dakota and then took over the bishops house and school in Yankton Their rich health care tradition began in 1897 when Bishop Thomas OGorman asked them to convert their academy and orphanage into Sacred Heart Hospital in response to the need for a clean quiet place for the sick and injured

Called to Care for the Sick

The roots of the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary are Irish and began with the zeal of an Irish woman Nano Nagle who redirected her life and wealth to the needs of the education of the poor and nighttime ministry to the povertyridden elderly and sick in her hometown In the late 19th century three Presentation Sisters from Ireland responded to the call to come to Dakota Territory to educate the children of the Lakota Sioux and those of the European settlers as well As the territory grew the new Dakota community of Presentation women did too Presentation College in Aberdeen became a leader in providing teachers and nurses to the rural area At the turn of the century the Sisters began caring for victims of diphtheria and typhoid epidemics in their homes and in their schools opening St Lukes Hospital in Aberdeen in 1901

As the Sisters heeded the Gospel call to care for the sick their health care ministries grew By treating every sick person as a child of God they hoped to reveal Gods love to the world Through a century of prudent and able administration the Sisters met the challenges of an everchanging health care system In the early years they borrowed to build hospitals for the people of the region and kept their ministries alive and flourishing during hard times Midcentury they met and often exceeded community expectations for quality care specialized skills and technology In the 1960s and 1970s they cooperated with government programs while assuring Gospel values pastoral care and mission awareness would continue to be evident in their hospitals and nursing homes

Presentation Health System

In 1978 the Presentation Sisters formed the Presentation Health System to combine the strengths of their individual institutions In like manner the Benedictine Sisters formed the Benedictine Health System of Yankton in 1987 The new organizations made it easier for the facilities to share the costs of expertise in areas of reimbursement coding legal affairs personnel management employee benefit administration bill collection and risk management In a first step toward the eventual union of their health ministries the Benedictine and Presentation Sisters formed the BenedictinePresentation Health Alliance and under its aegis began sponsoring an annual health care ethics conference