Avera Sacred Heart was awarded a Rural Health Network Development grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to establish the Upper Midwest Palliative Care Network. It also supports a partnership with South Dakota State University, Mount Marty College and Presentation College to design and deliver palliative care educational programming and curriculum to students in healthcare professions, current healthcare professionals in rural facilities, community members, patients, and families.
The $900,000.00 grant split over three years, July 1, 2020-June 30,2023 has helped to create palliative care curriculum at the college/university level for nursing students. Over 1,200 students have received this training so far.
Professional education is based on the Clinical Practice Guidelines for Palliative Care and was presented by multiple palliative care specialists across the state. The professional education is available through the Avera Learning Center- https://avera.cloud-cme.com/course/search?p=4000&Curriculum=Palliative and has been viewed by multiple disciplines across 11 different states and Vietnam.
The vision of the grant is to have all individuals in the state have access to and receive necessary care to manage their illnesses. The mission of the South Dakota Palliative Care Network is to improve access to quality palliative care for all South Dakotans by advocating for community-based resources and greater awareness. This is accomplished by education students in healthcare professions – starting with nursing programs; continuing education for current healthcare professionals and educating communities including patients and families.
Thank you to the many people involved in the development of this network including Charlene Berke, Project Director- Upper Midwest Palliative Care Network/Avera Sacred Heart; Sarah Mollman, PhD, RN, CHPN, CNE- SDSU and Mari Perrenoud, RN,MSA, CHPN, Network Director South Dakota Palliative Care Network/Avera Sacred Heart.
