SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – Avera announced on Wednesday that it is planning to expand its behavioral health program in two South Dakota cities, saying it’s needed now because of increasing demand among those who feel they need some assistance in managing their mental health.
Avera first started noticing the increasing need for mental healthcare a couple of years ago, coinciding with the pandemic.
“We’ve continued to see growing volumes in mental health in both Aberdeen and in Sioux Falls,” said Avera Behavioral Health Vice President, Thomas Otten.
Otten said their expansion efforts are building an entirely new mental health facility in Aberdeen with 18 beds. In Sioux Falls, they will complete construction on an already existing space.
“We will have a 16-bed unit dedicated to our most chronically mentally ill patients,” Otten said.
A serious plan to meet a serious need.
In recent years, a little more than 6,000 people have been moving to Sioux Falls every year. Whether that trend continues, we don’t know. What we do know is that an increase means more people living with mental health issues who want to seek help.
“We know Sioux Falls is growing so we want to be able to keep up and never have the problem of turning people away,” said Dr. David Ermer, the Clinical Vic President of the Avera Behavioral Health Service Line.
Ermer is pleased the health system is making this effort to stay ahead of the mental health curve.
But none of this is free. More than $7 million will be invested between the two locations, the result of federal and state funding and private donations, including $1.5 million from Dacotah Bank.
“We couldn’t do this without the state, the federal level and the individual donors,” Ermer said.
While the specific program improvements are happening in two of South Dakota’s largest cities, the result of this plan will spread far beyond those city boundaries.
“It’s not just Aberdeen and Sioux Falls,” Ermer said. “We cover a large rural footprint and so this is going to benefit a huge area.”