About Us

The Southeast SD Area Health Education Center, is a non-profit organization, primarily serving a 24-county area in southeastern South Dakota: Aurora, Bon Homme, Brule, Buffalo, Charles Mix, Clay, Davison, Douglas, Gregory, Hanson, Hutchinson, Jerauld, Lake, Lincoln, Lyman, McCook, Miner, Minnehaha, Moody, Sanborn, Tripp, Turner, Union, and Yankton counties.

SESD AHEC works with partners to create a sustainable healthcare workforce in our rural South Dakota service area. Some SESD AHEC’s activities include illustrating healthcare career opportunities to young people, offering continuing education opportunities for professionals, and developing venues for interprofessional education for post-secondary students in rural communities.

Established in 1979, the mission at SESD AHEC is to “connect students to careers, professionals to communities, and communities to better health.

SESD AHEC Board of Directors

Benjamin Aaker, MD
Physician – Avera Sacred Heart
Asst. Professor, Sanford School of Medicine

Rita Blasius
Retired CEO – Avera St. Benedicts Health Center

David Gillies
Business Banking Officer
First Dakota National Bank

Tammy Hatting
VP Post-Acute Care and Education
South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations

Carena Jarding
Nursing Program Director – Mitchell Technical Institute
SE SD AHEC Board of Directors – Vice Chair

Whitney Lucas Molitor, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Capstone Director, Chair of Admissions
University of South Dakota

Erica Peterson
CEO – Sanford Chamberlain Medical Center
SE SD AHEC – Board of Directors, Chair

Pam Rezac
Retired CEO – Avera Sacred Heart Hospital

Beth Schroeder, PA-C
Avera St. Benedict CRH Clinic – Lake Andes

Penny Tilton, DNP, RN
Administrative Chair of Nursing – Dakota Wesleyan University

For IRS 990 documents
Please contact us at info@yrahec.org