Emergency And Inpatient Services To Avera Restored

AVERA PRESIDENT AND CEO JOHN KOZYRA

Avera St. Anthony's Hospital is pleased to announce that its emergency department and inpatient care services will reopen at 8 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 29. However, it's important for the public to understand that access to our emergency services will be accessed through an alternative entrance while our facility undergoes repairs from the Oct. 7 explosion that happened adjacent to the hospital.

Until further notice, patients and visitors will use the entry on the north side of the hospital along East Adams Street for the emergency department. Parking is available in the lot at the intersection of East Adams Street and North Third Street. Signage and barricades will be on site to help guide patients and visitors. 

The emergency department will operate out of re-purposed space in the inpatient area until repairs in the actual emergency department are completed in the coming months.

“When we first surveyed the damage in the days following the explosion that occurred on the Saint Patrick's Catholic Church property, we thought it would be months before we would be able to restore many of our services,” said John Kozyra, President and CEO of Avera St. Anthony's Hospital. “But we have had many silver linings as we have evaluated the building and its support systems. That, along with the teams of employees, providers, contractors and more who have done a tremendous job of troubleshooting challenges and finding solutions, are why we are able to restore these services only three weeks out from that tragic day. 

“I also want to make clear that we have placed safety at the top of our priority list,” he added. “While these are temporary arrangements in some cases, we have made every effort to ensure that we are providing the same high-quality care our community has come to expect from the hospital.”

Kozyra said he is cautiously optimistic that an announcement regarding the reopening of surgical, along with labor and delivery, services will be coming soon. Once those are restored, the only two services that need to come back are dialysis and MRI.

A couple more things to note:

• Until the hospital announces that labor and delivery services are back, only true emergency deliveries can be done at Avera St. Anthony's Hospital.

• The cafeteria at the hospital has also reopened to the public. 

“We are so grateful to the community for its understanding and support as we've gone through the clean-up and repair process,” Kozyra said. “I have lived in O'Neill for less than a year, but this experience has reinforced to me why my family felt drawn to the community. People have pulled together to help and make sure the hospital and parish have the support they need.”

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