[3] 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.

The name Avera is derived from a Latin term meaning “to be well.” Avera came into existence when two orders of religious women—the Benedictine Sisters of Yankton, South Dakota,[6] and the Presentation Sisters of Aberdeen, South Dakota[7]—merged their Catholic health care systems into a single entity.

[8] eCARE uses interactive video and technology to connect with outlying sites through a virtual hospital based in Sioux Falls.

Working primarily with breast and gynecologic cancer patients, this team uses genetic analysis to recommend therapies targeted to fight an individual tumor.

A new protocol is testing one-time IORT treatment for patients age 60 and over, eliminating the need for additional radiation.