“My first job was at Avera McKennan, which is the flagship tertiary facility for Avera Health, and I was actually born at that hospital,” Ms. Lautt said during a Becker’s CFO+Revenue Cycle Podcast episode. “To be able to work as part of the organization that has a faith-based mission, which is something that was very important to me, and to be able to serve in the community that I was raised in has really been a blessing for both me personally and for my career.”
Avera Health is a female-founded, non-profit health system that comprises 315 locations across five states. Ms. Lautt has been with the system for 26 years, but has been CFO since 2020.
With a focus on growth, Ms. Lautt said over the next three years Avera Health will be investing $500 million in capital projects across the system to address care needs in the communities it serves.
Part of the project includes building a six-story tower addition to the Avera McKennan Hospital and University Center in Sioux Falls, which will add a new main entrance and 158 beds to the hospital.
“These projects, collectively, are the largest we’ve had in Avera’s history, and will add an expansion of 350,000 square feet,” she said. “The six-story tower at Avera will be dedicated to women and children. It’s an opportunity for us to continue expansion in that service line.”
Avera is also expanding on the south side of Sioux Falls to build a facility that will house digestive disease health services. The system is also conducting $16 million in renovations for a cancer institute in Yankton, S.D. The institute will offer medical oncology, radiation oncology, chemotherapy research, genetic counseling and additional support services.
“We focus on growth contiguous to our footprint and enhancing the capabilities of what we have within that,” she said. “We also look for diversification of our service lines. We really care about that population health shift, and [how we can] ensure we can create a continuum of care for our patients.”
