Blog---April 2, 2025—9-10—Working on Wellness Wednesday

  In our Working on Wellness Show---we learned a lot from four very interesting workers in medical services.

We started with Dr. Tim Ridgway---Dean—USD Sanford School of Medicine---he provided 9 pieces of information before it jumped on an airplane and flew away.

Sanford Health will begin an Emergency Medicine residency program in the summer of 2026. They accept students who received their MC degree from medical school and then have to do a residency in a particular discipline before being able to practice medicine independently – Dr. Ridgway listed Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and Colorado as some the matches.The USD Sanford School medicine has clinical departments in Internal Medicine, Obstetrics, Pathology, Family Medicine, Pediatrics, General Surgery and Neurology. The school of medicine presented a proposal to the Board of Regents requesting funding for the new department. And the Board approved and the request was sent to the state. The Governor (then Kristy Noem) in her budget.The Joint Committee of Appropriatio0ns approved the funding request today.The development allows the school to collaboratively with Sanford Health to address a high demand for physicians who are specially trained to administer emergency care.

      We will continue to work with Dr. Ridgway to give the students some thanks and help them making a decision to be part of medicine in South Dakota for the future.

      April is National Volunteer Month, and the American Red Cross is celebrating the more than 300,000 volunteers who unwavering support makes it possible for us to assist people in need every day. They constitute more than 90% of the Red Cross workforce and are the cornerstone of our lifesaving mission. 

      EXTREME WEATHER –The frequency and intensity of extreme weather is rapidly increasing, Hurricanes threaten to be more intense, wildfire season now occurs all year long and the rise in severity of spring weather is leading to more flooding and tornadoes. 

    As a result the Red Cross is operating in a state of continuous disaster response with the major disasters occurring as often as every 15 days. 

     Upcoming blood drive in Sioux Falls scheduled for April 16th and 24th. There are 1 blood drives in all coming up.

     Dr. Joshua Jorde—shared important information about his chiropractic office---as he shared even though it doesn’t feel like it—we are basically in spring now. And yes that is part of spring cleaning. Funny Dr. Jorde said that yesterday---when he asked what the patients had planned they said spring cleaning inside because of the outside weather.

     He shared—before doing any repetitive or heavy activity—limber up first and stretch, especially the muscles and joints that will most be involved in the exercises you plan on doing. 

     Lifting in particular is where a lot of issues come into play. There are three most common issues when it comes to lifting, lifting with the back especially from off the ground, lifting too much at once and twisting the back while lifting or carrying. 

    As Dr. Jordee shared---when it comes to what constitutes too heavy its hard to really give an objective, consistent answer. 

    Don’t forget to call if you need an adjustment –or think you might---they are located at Horde Chiropractic 37th at Center. 

    Last of the Working on Wellness Segment was with Dr. Mara Hermiston—Chief Medical Officer—Avera Medical Group. 

    As a health system that reaches across a vast footprint of 86 counties in a five-state region, Avera is designed to provide care near home for women and children. Women’s health encompasses a tremendous breadth throughout the lifespan, encompassing everything from obstetrical care, gynecologic health and family building to menopause, bone health, breast health and complex conditions like cancer, diabetes and heart disease.

    When you see the services, like birthing, that we keep in rural communities, rather than always bringing patients to Sioux Falls, you can tell that’s our passion lies. 

    Healthy families, healthy moms, and healthy women—that is the basis for everything else. 

    The right care at the right time involves ongoing communication between rural clinics, community hospitals, the large referral (tertiary) medical center, highly experienced transport teams and subspecialists. 

    The construction of the women’s and children’s tower in Sioux Falls is a physical representation of the health system’s dedication to the two populations—a visual cue of the high-level care Avera has already been providing.

    Our Working on Wellness Wednesday Show is a one of a kind each week. You can go to our KELO-AM Website---look for the podcast on the show---or follow along with this blog to find out what is in the show.

    Norm Anderson posts the podcast—my job is to help schedule the guests, interview them, write the blog—and make sure our audience has access to all that we do. Questions for me –feel free to call/text at 605-728-2455 (BILL) or email me at bill.zortman@mwcradio.com.