Avera Receives Three-Year Federal Grant To Extend Virtual Nursing

Avera has received $1 million in funding for the Avera RURAL-UP: Solving Rural Workforce Challenges in the Upper Midwest with Virtual Patient Care program

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Distance Learning and Telemedicine Program has awarded $1,017,126 over a three-year period to enhance access to virtual patient care and address workforce shortages across 28 rural end-user health care sites in South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa.

Avera RURAL-UP implements virtual nursing models that enable clinical staff to provide care remotely. These models will support bedside nurses by managing time-consuming, non-hands-on tasks such as patient education, admissions, discharge protocols and safety surveillance, allowing bedside nurses to focus on direct patient care, and mitigates critical staff shortages.

“Avera has a long history in virtual services and telehealth. Virtual nursing is one of the newest platforms,” said Kris Becker, Avera Director of Virtual Health. Avera began grant-funded virtual nursing two years ago at two pilot sites, including Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center in Sioux Falls and Avera St. Mary's Hospital in Pierre, S.D., with plans to expand to more sites across the Avera footprint, thanks to this latest grant assistance.

“The USDA has been an amazing collaborator with Avera to provide the needed equipment for innovation at rural hospitals, which otherwise may not have the financial margin to delve into these areas,” said Rachael Sherard, Senior Vice President for Rural Health at Avera. “We are grateful to have received 23 USDA grants to fund innovative care over the past 15 years.”

“This initiative aligns with Avera's commitment to address geographic isolation, financial barriers and workforce shortages in rural health care. The program leverages telemedicine and artificial intelligence to automate workflows, improve patient safety and optimize care delivery,” Rachael said.

Grant funding will cover the acquisition and implementation of real-time, interactive telemedicine equipment, including Artisight Connect TV Sticks, AI-powered mobile carts, surveillance cameras, and remote audio-visual communication tools at numerous Avera locations, which are located in primarily rural communities.

Funding for the program runs through August 2027.

Avera hospitals in the following communities will receive virtual nursing equipment through this grant:

South Dakota

• De Smet

• Dell Rapids

• Flandreau

• Freeman

• Gettysburg

• Gregory

• Milbank

• Miller

• Mitchell

• Parkston

• Platte

• Redfield

• Scotland

• Tyndall

• Yankton

• Wagner

• Wessington Springs

Minnesota

• Granite Falls

• Marshall

• Pipestone

• Tyler

 Nebraska

• Creighton

• O'Neill

Iowa

• Estherville

• Rock Rapids

• Rock Valley

• Sibley

•Spirit Lake

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