SCHAUMBURG, Illinois, April 22 -- The Coalition of State Rheumatology Organizations issued the following news: On Tuesday, March 24th South Dakota Governor, Kristi Noem, signed SB 155 into law as S.J. 588. The law provides sorely needed reforms to the step-therapy process for patients and providers in South Dakota. Final approval of the measure capped an effort by a broad coalition of stakeholders, including CSRO and rheumatologists from the Rheumatology Association of Minnesota and the Dakotas  more

SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota, April 23 -- Missouri River Energy Services issued the following news release: Four members of Missouri River Energy Services (MRES) are among 125 public power utilities nationwide to earn APPA's Safety Award of Excellence. The MRES members earning this award are all located in Minnesota. They are: Detroit Lakes Public Utilities, Hutchinson Utilities Commission, Willmar Municipal Utilities, and Worthington Public Utilities. The Safety awards are based on number of wor  more

SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota, April 23 -- Missouri River Energy Services issued the following news release: Five members of Missouri River Energy Services (MRES) are among the 114 public power utilities nationwide to be recognized this year for outstanding service under the American Public Power Association's (APPA) Reliable Public Power Provider (RP3)(R) program. The RP3 designation, which lasts for three years, recognizes public power utilities that demonstrate proficiency in four key disciplin  more

SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota, April 25 -- Sanford Health issued the following news: If one thing is for certain in a pandemic, Sanford Health feels the absence of more than 500 volunteers who bring joy to patients and employees in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. For the time being, those volunteers are asked to stay home in an effort to maintain safe protection practices. "We are missing our volunteers," said Nona Bixler, director of volunteer services. But in honor of National Volunteer Week, Bixle  more

SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota, April 25 -- Sanford Health issued the following news: While the largest Sanford Health hospitals have spent weeks preparing for a surge of coronavirus cases, the locations in rural areas have been busy as well. From Chamberlain, South Dakota, to Halstad, Minnesota, administrators of clinics, hospitals and long-term care facilities in small towns have been working on plans to keep their patients and health care workers as safe as possible. They knew cases would come   more

SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota, April 22 -- Sanford Health issued the following news: The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust has announced a multimillion-dollar effort to save the lives of COVID-19 patients and protect the front line health care workers caring for them. A total of $4,711,481 in funding will be distributed across five Upper Midwest states to pay for 367 LUCAS mechanical CPR devices to be deployed to hospitals caring for patients during the pandemic and beyond. Sanford   more

SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota, April 23 -- Sanford Health issued the following news: Nurses, doctors and other health care employees have been working tirelessly to care for COVID-19 patients at Sanford Health. Inside the COVID-19 unit at Sanford Medical Center -- Bismarck, in North Dakota, you can see lots of personal protective equipment ready for front line staff to use. "You throw on your powered air-purifying respirator (PAPR) and your hood and go into rooms and then decontaminating all of y  more

SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota, April 24 -- Sanford Health issued the following news: Sanford Health, in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Health, is deploying an aggressive approach to better understand the COVID-19 outbreak in southwest Minnesota, with a goal of slowing the spread of the illness through extensive testing. Minnesota's Department of Health is working with JBS to see that all employees have access to testing to minimize disruption at the Worthington plant. Sanford Health w  more

SIOUX FALLS, South Dakota, April 21 -- Sanford Health issued the following news: A critically ill patient has received a transfusion of plasma from a recovered COVID-19 patient, the first use of the therapy in the Sanford Health system. The treatment is part of a national clinical trial to test the effect of blood plasma in treating COVID-19. The use of plasma under this program is for hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19, or those at high risk of progression to life-threatening disease.  more