Avera, the health ministry of the Benedictine and Presentation Sisters, is a regional partnership of health professionals who share support services to maintain excellent care at more than 231 locations in eastern South Dakota and surrounding states.

Our caregivers are supported by the resources and expertise of the region's largest health system. Management and other support services are provided through the Avera Central Office in Sioux Falls, S. D., and its five regional centers: Avera St. Luke's in Aberdeen, S.D.; Avera Queen of Peace in Mitchell, S.D.; Avera McKennan in Sioux Falls, S.D.; Avera Sacred Heart in Yankton, S.D.; and Avera Marshall in Marshall, Minn.

Avera 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.

Avera Vision

Working with its partners, Avera shall provide a quality, cost-effective 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.

Avera 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 Avera's 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 earth's resources with justice and responsibility. Respect, truth and integrity are foundational to right relationships among those who serve, and those who are served.

Avera Beliefs Statement

From the earliest traditions of the church to the present day, the mission of evangelization to which Jesus sent His followers has included healing as a major part. "Into whatever city you go, after they welcome you... cure the sick there. Say to them, 'The kingdom of God is at hand.'"*

Members of the church follow the example of Jesus, therefore, when they carry out the work of healing -- not only by providing care for the physically ill, but also by working to restore health and wholeness in all facets of the human person and the human community. Wholeness in the Christian perspective includes not only the physical and emotional, but also spiritual and social.*

In this spirit Avera pursues a special vocation to share in carrying forth God's life-giving and healing work. In addition, the persons and institutions allied together as Avera share these beliefs.

• God permeates all moments of human experience and is present to every person in health as well as sickness, in life as well as death.
• We support life from conception to death, believing the journey of life, including the beginning and the end, are gifts of the Creator, entrusted to us for reverent care.
• The core values of compassion, hospitality and stewardship guide our caregivers and our service.
• Justice and mercy demand our advocacy for the poor, the frail and the at-risk persons of our society; all persons have a right to basic health care.
• Our management decisions and delivery of care are motivated by the health and wellness of patients, their families and communities.
• Our employees, physicians and community partners are our most valuable resources.

Avera is sponsored by the Sisters of St. Benedict of Sacred Heart Monastery of Yankton, S.D. and the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Aberdeen, S.D. In accord with its Catholic mission, Avera adheres to the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services.

Social and institutional wellness are best promoted through joined efforts of various religious and community-sponsored institutions. Choosing collaboration and empowerment enables us to be better stewards of our human, financial, technical and environmental resources.

* Pastoral letter on Health & Health Care, U.S. Catholic Bishops, 1983