Before Tyler Hemmingson became Avera’s director for hospital-based providers in Pierre, the Spearfish, SD, native experienced Avera as a rural heart patient in need of quality care.
A Life-Changing Diagnosis
When Hemmingson was 6, he fell from a truck and was brought to the ER. The visit led to the diagnosis of a congenital heart condition that is typically discovered in the womb.
Hemmingson has since had a series of heart surgeries and procedures to correct congenital coarctation of the aorta (narrow aorta) and bicuspid aortic valve (aortic valve with two leaflets instead of three) and several secondary conditions that have developed because of that.
His journey included a connection with Avera pediatric cardiologist Sami Awadallah, MD, and pediatric cardiology nurse Holly Christensen, RN, when he moved to Sioux Falls after college.
“I owe so much of my quality of life to them,” said Hemmingson. “They caught at least two moments where my heart condition was bad enough that I needed open heart surgery.”
He was able to manage the condition through early adulthood in Rapid City and Wyoming, before he and his wife moved to Pierre to be closer to family.
Then one day in January of 2025, Hemmingson and his wife were getting ready to take their son to swimming lessons when Hemmingson began having a hard time breathing.
“I had some real shortness of breath that quickly transitioned to chest pain, and I knew it was serious.”
An ER visit at Avera St. Mary’s Hospital provided the exact diagnosis needed to get the right level of treatment. After ruling out emergency conditions including heart attack and aortic rupture, Timmi Hutchison, DO, determined the cause behind Hemmingson’s pain and high blood pressure was a stricture of the descending aorta (a narrowing of the main artery carrying blood from the heart to the body).
His primary care provider referred him to his earlier Avera specialist, Awadalla, who referred him to Mayo for a specialized stent procedure. “If not for all of them, I'm genuinely not sure we'd be talking right now — it was that lifesaving of a procedure.”
Why Work at Avera?
“I was so inspired by what happened when I came through the doors of Avera St. Mary's that I thought, ‘I can't not be part of this mission,’” said Hemmingson. “I want to shepherd that experience of excellence, of bringing the front edge of medicine to rural South Dakota.”
Avera’s commitment to living out its mission appealed to Hemmingson as well.
“The mission statement is more than words on a page,” said Hemmingson. “We make decisions as an organization based on our values. It truly is a faith-based ministry, where our focus is on being present for and serving our community.”
Hemmingson was drawn to pay forward the care he received as a patient by joining Avera in exceeding patients’ expectations for rural care and helping team members do their best work.
“This role is about partnering with providers like Dr. Timmi Hutchison to equip them with the tools they need to provide excellent care and continue raising the bar,” said Hemmingson.
