Prairie Lakes Healthcare System (PLHS) is proud to announce the transition of Glacial Lakes Orthopaedics (GLO) to Prairie Lakes Orthopedics. The acquisition became official when paperwork was signed on Monday afternoon along with a welcome event for the staff joining Prairie Lakes.

Prairie Lakes Healthcare System and Glacial Lakes Orthopaedics have had a long-standing relationship to offer orthopedic and surgical services to the community and region. GLO has operated as an independent practice since 1985 and has three orthopedic surgeons, two advance practice providers, and 11 employees that have now transitioned to Prairie Lakes employees. The surgeons, Michael Vener, MD, Gerald Rieber, MD and Casey Johnston, MD and their team occupy space in the lower level of the Prairie Lakes Specialty Clinic and will remain at this location.

“We are both grateful and excited to welcome the Glacial Lakes Orthopaedics staff into the Prairie Lakes family,” said Interim CEO, Paul Macek. “This change is monumental for both organizations. By combining the talent and expertise of the two organizations, we can continue to expand the scope of orthopedic care and services to Watertown and the surrounding communities that we serve.”

The collaborations developed between PLHS and GLO have created a great foundation for new opportunities in the future. Joining teams and resources will allow Prairie Lakes Orthopedics to offer a complete orthopedic journey with procedures, rehabilitation, and sports medicine all in one convenient location to optimize patient care.

To schedule an appointment with Prairie Lakes Orthopedics, please call 605-882-2630. For more information and to learn more about the Orthopedics team, click below.

Learn More About Prairie Lakes Orthopedics

Prairie Lakes Hospice received a $660 donation from Curt Trego, First Bank & Trust Community Bank President. The donation was made possible due to a recent “Walk Your Dog Challenge” that First Bank & Trust employees participated in. 

Trego said, “To promote a healthy lifestyle we challenged employees to walk 30 miles with or without pets during the 30 days of June with a donation to a local charity – the employees charity of choice was Prairie Lakes Hospice.  The bank would donate $30 for each employee who completed 30 miles walked – plus if the First Bank & Trust team exceeded a total of 330 miles for the 11 participating employees the bank would double that match, resulting in a total of $660 donated to Prairie Lakes Hospice”.

Thank you First Bank & Trust for your generous donation. We'd also like to thank the Prairie Lakes Hospice team for their excellent care and dedication to our hospice patients and their families.

Prairie Lakes Healthcare System welcomes licensed and board certified Physician Assistant, David Feist, MS, PA-C, to the Dermatology Clinic staff. He joins Dr. Jeffrey Smith and Abby Gietzen, PA-C in the expert care of patients with conditions related to the skin. Prairie Lakes Dermatology specializes in general and surgical dermatology as well as cosmetic procedures and treatments.

Feist received his Physician Assistant degree, with a surgical specialization and focus in dermatology, from Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University in New York. Feist trained at several prestigious Manhattan hospitals including the New York Presbyterian University Hospital of Cornell and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He received his undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor of Arts in Advertising/Marketing Communications. Feist relocated to Watertown from Arizona with his wife and three children where he has been practicing dermatology for the past ten years. He enjoys swimming, running, performing arts, stand-up comedy, golf, music, and spending time with his family.

“I enjoy getting to know my patients and helping them understand and improve their skin conditions, both medically and cosmetically,” Feist said. “My family and I are excited to become a part of the Watertown community.”

For information about Prairie Lakes Dermatology and the services offered, please visit www.prairielakes.com/dermatoloty.

The Prairie Lakes Healthcare System Patient Portal was recently updated to MyCareCorner! The new online portal provides patients with access to their medical records, to pay their bill, and more. For more information about MyCareCorner and to view User Guides, please visit our online portal page:

Prairie Lakes Online Patient Portal

New Patient Portal Users download mycarecorner

If you are a new patient, Prairie Lakes Healthcare System will send you an email to the email address you provide that includes instructions and a link to register and access your MyCareCorner account. 

Existing Thrive Patient Portal Users

If you have a registered account on the previous Thrive patient portal, you will need to login to your old patient portal account at thrivepatientportal.com with your existing Username and Password. You will be redirected to the MyCareCorner login/registration page. Fill out the appropriate fields to complete registration for your MyCareCorner account.

Download the MyCareCorner Mobile App

 GetItOnGooglePlay    DownloadOnApple

 

Yellow Rose Week, the primary source of funding for the Suzanne Jacobson Memorial Fund (SJMF), a service of the Prairie Lakes Healthcare Foundation, was celebrated in Northeastern South Dakota, June 6th-10th, 2022. 

The SJMF provides grants to individuals diagnosed with a life-threatening illness who are in financial need, due to their medical crisis.  Grants help with everyday expenses such as medical bills, the cost of medications, travel related to medical care, groceries, utilities, or rent. 

Since the funds inception in 1999, 836 individuals have been awarded grants totaling over $465,700.00

This year the SJMF Committee Members and volunteers, Buck and Deb Jacobson, Prairie Lakes Healthcare Foundation and System Board of Director’s, volunteers, staff, and area volunteers from Clark (Clark Flower & Gift Shop), Florence, Milbank (Donna Buttke & Terri Weber), South Shore, and Waverly (Peggy Meyer), raised over $30,000.00 through donations and the sales of yellow roses, decals, and yard signs.  100% of all dollars raised will be used for grants to individuals.

We would like to thank the numerous businesses and individuals in Watertown and the surrounding Northeast Region, for the tremendous outpouring of help and support! We are successful because of you!  Thank you!    

SJMF was established by Suzanne Jacobson’s friends and family, to continue to positively impact the lives of those in need, just as Suzanne did through her care and professionalism during her many years of service as a physician’s assistant, prior to her passing in 1998.

The SJMF is grateful to receive donations year-round.  If you would like to learn more about Prairie Lakes Healthcare Foundation’s SJMF, or if you would like to donate, visit our website at www.prairielakes.com/foundation or call us at the Foundation at 605-882-7631. 

After much consideration and evaluation, Prairie Lakes Leadership has approved the decision to revise our visitor policy to allow more patient visitors while maintaining proper safety measures to protect our staff, patients, and the community. We recognize that family member, caretaker, and visitor support is important to our patients.

Effective July 1, 2022, the patient visitor policy will be lifted and we will not restrict the number of visitors per patient. Patients in isolation (for example, patients in COVID isolation) will not be allowed visitors. Exceptions will be made for end-of-life situations.

The current mask policy remains in effect and will continue to be evaluated.

Wednesday, June 29, 2022

Prairie Lakes Recognized for Patient Experience Featured

Prairie Lakes Healthcare System was recently awarded the 2022 Outstanding Patient Experience Award from Healthgrades for the first time. Healthgrades is an online resource that empowers users to find the best hospitals, doctors, and care for their family by delivering accessible and transparent information on healthcare providers in their area.

399 hospitals received the 2022 Outstanding Patient Experience Award – seven were chosen in South Dakota (click here for a complete list). To select winners, Healthgrades analyzed 3,173 hospitals nationwide that submitted at least 75 patient experience surveys from July 2020 to March 2021 and evaluates these hospitals based on 10 measures. The survey questions focus on patients’ perspectives of their care in the hospital. The topic of these questions range from cleanliness and noise levels in patient rooms to medication explanations and hospital staff responsiveness to patients’ needs. The measures also include whether a patient would recommend the hospital to friends or family and their overall rating of the hospital. Hospitals in the top 15% are recognized as Outstanding Patient Experience Award recipients. 

“Prairie Lakes is a patient-centered organization and being recognized for excellent patient care is a point of pride for us," Interim CEO, Paul Macek said. "We want to recognize our staff and physicians for their commitment to providing high-quality health care that they deliver to our patients and community every day." 

The Outstanding Patient Experience Award from Healthgrades recognizes Prairie Lakes Healthcare System as an organization that offers superior quality care to patients. We would like to thank each and every one of our employees that help us every day to provide exceptional patient service. From a welcoming smile when one enters the facility to a smooth discharge process and everything in between, Prairie Lakes is dedicated to exceptional patient care.

On June 11th, 2022, Prairie Lakes Healthcare System held the 25th Annual Hospital Hill Run. Walkers and runners participated to raise money for the Prairie Lakes Healthcare Foundation’s Caring Club House. A generous donation of $3,250 was donated to the Caring Club House.

Shown are members of the Hospital Hill Run Committee: Shannon Bleeker, Lydia Newman, and Lisa Dahl, Executive Director of the Prairie Lakes Healthcare Foundation. Also pictured is Suellen Roby, Caretaker, Prairie Lakes Caring Club House. Committee Members not photographed are Dr. Dan Reiffenberger, Tom Beaudry, Chief Tim Toomey, and Bryan Beckedahl.

Sponsors of the 2022 Hospital Hill Run include: Prairie Lakes Healthcare System, Brown Clinic, Glacial Lakes Orthopaedics, Consulting Radiologists Ltd., Drs. Dan and Sarah Reiffenberger and Megan, Nick and Molly, Sanford Health-Watertown, Watertown Public Opinion, Community Blood Bank, Dakota Portable Toilets, Graf Billboard Signs, Watertown Chamber of Commerce, KXLG and First PREMIER Bank / PREMIER Bankcard.

The Caring Club House is a home away from home for out-of-town patients, families, and caregivers receiving services through Prairie Lakes. Funded and furnished completely through community support and donations, the Caring Club House is a not-for-profit, community-based project of the Prairie Lakes Healthcare Foundation, with support from Prairie Lakes Healthcare System. Annual operating expenses more than $17,000. All donations are appreciated and are tax-deductible as allowed by law. If you would like to support the Caring Club House financially or work as a volunteer there, please call the Foundation office at 605-882-7631.

The 25th Annual Hospital Hill Run took place on Saturday, June 11 with a 5K run, 5K walk, and a one-mile walk for all ages. There were 61 timed 5K runners, 29 5K walkers, and 12 one-mile walkers. 

Thank you to our sponsors, donors, and volunteers who helped with the event. An announcement with the total money raised from this year's Hospital Hill Run will be released soon. 

Fastest 5K male runner was Ricky Berndt with a time of 18 minutes 44 seconds. The fastest 5K female runner for the second year in a row was Kate McElroy with a time of 20 minutes 27 seconds.

 PLH6678 OverallWinners2

Download the 5K results: Hospital_Hill_Run_Results_2022.pdf

Proceeds from the Hospital Hill Run benefit the Prairie Lakes Caring Club House. Due to the tremendous support of our community, we raised $3,250 from our 2022 event!

 PLH6692 online

Read Press Release Here

Prairie Lakes Healthcare System has recently made a $2 million donation toward the construction of a new Appropriate Regional Facility (ARF) in Watertown. The Human Service Agency (HSA) broke ground on the facility during the fall of 2021. With mental health needs continuing to rise locally, regionally, and across the nation, this new facility will serve as a significant asset for the support of those in need of behavioral health care in our region.

The new $7 million dollar ARF facility, to be located just behind the main HSA building on 19th street in Watertown, will provide the region with four additional mental health beds where individuals experiencing a mental health crisis can be treated for up to five days. In addition, the ARF will also provide four beds for substance abuse detoxification and continue as the current Serenity Hills, a 16 bed halfway house for men with a dual diagnosis of mental health and addiction. The ARF facility will serve as a location, outside of an emergency room, that has the staff and resources readily available to care for individuals who present with mental health or substance abuse needs. The ARF facility is the result of a state wide assessment evaluating the need for more regional care for those with psychiatric needs.

“There is a need in our region for additional mental health facilities and we are dedicated to helping meet this need. We have a very collaborative relationship with the Human Service Agency for patients at Prairie Lakes that require clinical expertise and resources that the HSA provides to our community,” Prairie Lakes Interim CEO, Paul Macek, said.  “It’s our partnership with the HSA that links these patients to the services and treatment they need. This new AFR facility will reduce the number of psychiatric and detox walk-ins to the emergency room as these individuals can soon receive the appropriate evaluations and treatment at the right time and receive them directly at the ARF.”

“I am thankful to have such a supportive hospital in our community. We have longstanding and very positive working relationship with Prairie Lakes and their financial contribution to our new mission is proof of their dedication and support to improve mental health services in our community. I look forward to a continued partnership with them as we begin our operations this fall,” said Kari Johnston, Executive Director of the Human Service Agency.

Johnston reports they are continuing to seek donations in support of the Behavioral Health facility to offset the rising and unpredictable construction costs. If you are interested in making a donation, you can go to their website at www.humanserviceagency.org or call Kari Johnston at 605-884-4540.