Sioux Falls Business Journal

Two Sioux Falls-based health care organizations recently received awards for their technology and patient care.

• Sanford USD Medical Center and Avera Health have been named one of the nation’s most wired, according to the results of the 2008 Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study released in the July issue of Hospitals & Health Networks magazine.

The Most Wired Survey is conducted annually by Hospitals & Health Networks magazine, the journal of the American Hospital Association, which uses the results to name the 100 Most Wire hospitals and health systems.

The 100 Most Wired hospitals show better outcomes in patient satisfaction, risk-adjusted mortality rates and other key quality measures through the use of information technology.

Also, Avera McKennan Hospital was one of four hospitals to receive national honor for their leadership and innovation in quality, safety and commitment to patient care.

Avera received a Citation of Merit for the 2008 American Hospital Association-McKesson Quest for Quality Award.

Avera was honored for working to improve and streamline care so patients receive care in a more timely way, as well as its efforts for opening a 110-bed behavioral health center and engaging in research that studies the impact of environmental factors on individuals with genetic psychiatric disorders.

The Sioux Falls Regional Airport Authority hopes to benefit from demand for commercial air service that could be stimulated by construction of the proposed Hyperion Energy Center near Elk Point.

Members of the airport board decided July 24 to study the feasibility of providing bus or van service to and from the airport and the Elk Point area.

If the large refinery is constructed, airports in Sioux Falls and Sioux City, Iowa, probably will compete for worker traffic, board members said. Thousands of jobs could be created during and after the construction period.

“Let’s let these people know we’re alive and would like their business,” Bill Dougherty said.

The airport board delayed taking specific action for two months to provide more time to study aspects such as cost.

Crimson Fire Inc., based in Brandon, will build 36 fire trucks for a Maryland department that serves the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.

The multi-function pumpers for the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service will have computer-controlled and automated pumps designed to provide consistent foam delivery. The contract is valued at more than $11.2 million.

The fire department will use the 36 pumpers to replace a significant portion of its fleet. The compressed-air foam pumpers have a capacity of 1,500 gallons per minute. Each will be equipped with a 750-gallon water tank and dual 25-gallon foam tanks.

The University of Sioux Falls plans to create a nursing school with help from a federal grant.

USF will receive a $2 million grant over five years from the U.S. Department of Education to help launch a nursing program.

The grant will help the university recruit and employ faculty, develop curricula, purchase supplies and equipment, and renovate science classrooms and teaching labs in the Salsbury Science Center. A portion also will be used as seed money to start an endowment for future scholarships.

Leaders of the private, Christian liberal arts school expect to submit an application in September with the South Dakota Board of Nursing. They hope to enroll the school’s first nursing students in the fall of 2009.

Ultimately, USF plans to offer two-year, four-year and graduate-level nursing education.

“The proposed nursing program aligns well with the expressed mission of the university and would eventually translate into increased student enrollment,” USF President Mark Benedetto said.

USF has been working toward starting a nursing program for several years. Benedetto called the July 23 announcement a landmark in USF history.

“There are plenty of students to go around because (all nursing schools in the area) are all full,” he said.