Avera St. Luke's Opens New Behavioral Health Space
Avera St. Luke’s Hospital has moved its behavioral health services into a new, expanded space that now offers 18 beds. With the expansion, behavioral health services will now be delivered in remodeled space on the fourth floor of the existing hospital.
The expanded space will serve adults and provide crisis stabilization for adolescents. “We’re thrilled to reaffirm our commitment to mental health care right here in Aberdeen. After a great deal of careful planning and work, we’re so excited to see this expansion become reality,” said Dan Bjerknes, Regional President and CEO of Avera St. Luke’s Hospital.
The project received a state grant from the South Dakota Department of Social Services and ARPA dollars of $2.4 million, a lead gift of $1.5 million from Dacotah Bank and giving from other generous donors.
The remodel expands space for inpatient behavioral health care at Avera St. Luke’s from 10 beds to 18, as well as provides space for a gym, activities and therapy groups. Avera St. Luke’s continues to offer residential addiction care in the hospital, which will now have the entire 10-bed space on second floor, previously occupied by behavioral health.
“Now we have state-of-the-art space for the excellent behavioral health staff and effective programming we already had in place. This is a wonderful environment of healing where we can care for the whole person – body, mind and spirit. The ability to keep behavioral health in the main hospital with this new unit allows us to maintain continuity of care with staffing and support services,” Bjerknes said.
Adults and adolescents receive evidence-based treatment for a variety of conditions, including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, personality disorders and suicidal thoughts.
Avera St. Luke’s sees patients from a broad rural area in the northern sector of South Dakota.
“It is a hub for care and numerous medical specialties in addition to behavioral health,” Bjerknes said. “Our community’s need for expanded and enhanced behavioral health services is well-known and well-documented.” Avera St. Luke’s recent and past Community Health Needs Assessments have identified a need for increased access to behavioral health care.
With a $1.5 million lead gift, Dacotah Bank generously committed the most significant donation from a corporate entity to support behavioral health expansion in Aberdeen. “We were also blessed with generous support from others. Gifts to this expansion will still be matched by Dacotah Bank,” said Dzenan Berberovic, Chief Philanthropy Officer at Avera.
“We thank Dacotah Bank for their generous investment in improved access to behavioral health services in Aberdeen as well as the state for grant funding and many others who have generously helped us raise matching funds,” Berberovic added.
“As a leader in behavioral health care over six decades, Avera has a strong commitment to behavioral health,” Bjerknes said. “Timely, high-quality care can make all the difference for someone who is experiencing a mental health crisis.”
