Company Profile
Company Overview
Mission, Values & Vision
Our Vision
The vision of the Brookings Health System is to be a trusted source of health care for our regional community through:
• Committing to improve the well-being of our citizens;
• Fostering physician & customer relations;
• Investing in tomorrow's workforce;
• Delivering operational and service excellence;
• Campus development and master planning;
• Utilizing innovative technology.
Our Mission
Brookings Health System: Dedicated to providing quality, patient-centered health care with excellence and compassion through attention to safety, value and community health promotion while cultivating partnerships and community involvement to demonstrate our passion and commitment to those we serve.
Our Values
• Trust: We will work to earn the complete trust of our patients, families, co-workers and communities through honest, ethical and professional behavior.
• Integrity: We adhere to an uncompromising code of moral and ethical principles.
• Respect: We provide an environment where all individuals are treated with respect and dignity.
• Accountability: We take responsibility and ownership for our actions and their outcomes.
• Compassion: We strive to be sensitive and caring for each individual's emotional, spiritual, and physical needs.
• Teamwork: We work as a team to achieve our shared goals.
• Excellence: We strive for excellence in all we do.
Unique Service Offerings
Brookings Health System offers residents in our community the best of both worlds: the one-on-one, patient-centered care of a rural hospital combined with the state-of-the-art technology and advanced care techniques of a larger facility.
We have the privilege of caring for our friends and neighbors, adding a personal touch and hometown feel in everything we do. Our wonderful, highly-skilled staff is passionate about our patients and the care they receive. Our goal is to make a difference in lives of the people within our community.
Because healthcare constantly changes, we also keep ourselves on the forefront of innovation, technology and best medical practices. Some of our latest forward-thinking advancements include:
• Electronic Medical Records (EMR): Brookings Health System has been a pioneering adopter of EMR in South Dakota. By digitizing patients’ records, we are able to have information on computers directly at care providers’ fingertips. For our patients, this dynamic technology enables us to provide the highest level of quality and safety.
• eICU Care : Brookings Health System has partnered with Avera to provide advanced telemedicine intensive care monitoring called eICU. With the eICU Care resource, a patient’s hometown physician continues to make all decisions regarding the patient’s care. By using a real-time camera and secure, high-speed transmission lines, intensive care physicians, critical care nurses, and support staff are able to monitor a patient 24-7 from a remote location. Even slight changes in patient conditions are detected, allowing for early intervention before significant problems may occur. The combination of care and technology saves lives and shortens recovery times.
• Volunteer Doula Program : Our volunteer doula program provides a free pool of doulas to assist women who have their baby at Brookings Health System. A doula is a woman who provides continuous labor support during childbirth. She assists the mother and her partner with emotional and physical needs, making the experience as comfortable and memorable as possible. A doula is trained in massage, pressure point relief, positioning, and birthing balls. She also uses music, aromatherapy, relaxation, and visualization.
Our professional, highly-trained staff and progressive healthcare philosophy helps us to take care of our friends and neighbors right here in Brookings.
Awards & Accolades
We Honor Veterans
January 2011, Brookings Health System’s hospice started the orientation process for the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s (NHPCO) We Honor Veterans program. The program teaches respectful inquiry, compassionate listening and grateful acknowledgement to comfort patients with a history of military service and possible physical or psychological trauma. It also provides practical resources, including downloadable forms and descriptions of veteran benefits.
In October 2011, Brookings Health System achieved Level One recognition in the program. To achieve that status, Brookings Health System’s hospice provided veteran-centric education to staff and volunteers and identified patients with military experience.
Currently Brookings Health System is working on achieving Level Two program recognition.
Rural Health IT Grant
In October 2011, Brookings Health System, Avera Medical Group Brookings, and United Retirement Center Avera became one of 40 rural health networks across the nation to receive a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as a part of the President’s Rural Health Initiative. The grant provides $300,000 for next three years, totaling $900,000.
The three Brookings organizations are using the funds to create a community health information network. The new network will allow the three entities to quickly and accurately share patient information via Electronic Health Records (EHR), providing a better continuity of care for Brookings area patients.
Stage 6 HIMSS EMR Designation
In March 2010, Brookings Health System became the first South Dakota hospital to achieve a HIMSS Stage 6 Electronic Medical Record (EMR) rating, the second highest level achievable. The designation signals that Brookings Health System has achieved a high degree of clinical automation.
By using Electronic Health Records, Brookings Health System digitized patient records, putting patient information on computers directly at care providers’ fingertips. For our patients, this technology enables us to provide the highest level of quality and safety.
Currently, Brookings Health System is working on achieving a HIMSS Stage 7 EMR rating.