Avera Health donates undisclosed amount to Mitchell Tech to expand radiologic technology

Morgan Matzen, Sioux Falls Argus Leader
·2 min read

Avera Health gave a gift at an undisclosed value to Mitchell Technical College on Wednesday morning to expand the college’s radiologic technology department.

Officials from the college did not immediately respond to an Argus Leader inquiry about the size of the gift.

Radiologic technologists are one of several critical needs to Avera’s workforce, Doug Ekeren, regional president and CEO of Avera Queen of Peace Hospital in Mitchell and Avera Sacred Heart Hospital in Yankton, said in a news release.

Shannon Carlson, 13, an eighth-grader at Dell Rapids Middle School, uses a stethoscope on a high fidelity manikin at the Mitchell Technical Institute's Health Sciences Program booth during the Women in Science event Tuesday, March 8, 2016, at Southeast Tech in Sioux Falls.
Shannon Carlson, 13, an eighth-grader at Dell Rapids Middle School, uses a stethoscope on a high fidelity manikin at the Mitchell Technical Institute's Health Sciences Program booth during the Women in Science event Tuesday, March 8, 2016, at Southeast Tech in Sioux Falls.

The donation will allow Mitchell Tech students to train on the same equipment used at Avera locations to make the transition from the school to work environment seamless, Ekeren said. The donation will also provide the funding needed to match what the college has budgeted for the expansion project.

More:How Sioux Falls area schools are experiencing, responding to COVID-19 learning loss in South Dakota

Mitchell Tech graduates in radiology technology are sought each year because the field is growing quickly, Mark Wilson, president of Mitchell Tech, said in a news release.

The gift will provide for a GE Definium Tempo fixed X-ray system in a facility inside renovated space within the Campus Center building, according to a news release from the college.

Instructors in the program will be able to simultaneously work with three groups of students in their updated department, which will now feature two traditional lab spaces, with an improved mobile lab acting as a pass-through emergency department.

Radiologic technology was the college’s first to fill in fall 2022, and is already full for 2023, with a growing waiting list. Over the last two years, the program has increased in capacity from 15 students to 24, and this year a fourth instructor was hired.

Work is anticipated to commence on the Rad Tech expansion at the close of this school year, and be complete in time to open in Fall 2023.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Mitchell Tech sees Avera donation to expand radiology program