YANKTON, S.D.(WNAX)- Health care facilities across the country shared in billions of federal dollars over the past two years as they dealt with the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Doug Ekeren, President of Avera Sacred Heart Hospital in Yankton says while those dollars are going away, many of the increased costs are not.

Ekeren says they have to deal with the growing gap.

Ekeren says that comes as they prepare for another possible surge in Covid infections later this year.