This paid piece is sponsored by Avera Health.

As the Avera on Louise Health Campus in southwest Sioux Falls nears its five-year mark, Avera officially has broken ground on the latest building to be constructed there ― a medical office building to focus on digestive health services.

Architect’s rendering of future medical office building at Avera on Louise.

The 127,000 square foot building will be constructed just south of the Avera Specialty Hospital and is a key aspect of a two-part building project recently announced by Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center.

This new Avera on Louise building, combined with a six-story addition to Avera McKennan on the main campus, will be the largest building project in Avera history at a total cost of approximately $245 million. It will also be the largest expansion of hospital patient care space in Sioux Falls history at almost 350,000 square feet. The Avera McKennan addition will house women’s and children’s services and add 158 more beds, expanding surgery, medical/surgical inpatient care and more.

“We’ve had four groundbreakings at the Avera on Louise Health Campus since the summer of 2017,” said Dr. Ronald Place, regional president and CEO of Avera McKennan.

“Our vision was, and continues to be, creating a modern, convenient and accessible health campus in a growing sector of our city. It has become a landmark that changed the skyline of our city’s south side.”

The Avera Specialty Hospital and attached Avera Medical Group building opened in the fall of 2019, followed by the Avera Addiction Care Center in December 2019 and Avera Human Performance Center in January 2020.

“With each new project, Avera leaders and physicians have really studied trends and forecasts to ensure we are meeting the most pressing needs. It’s what Avera and the Sisters have always done,” Place said.

This latest project will provide expansion space for two key service lines: gastroenterology and orthopedics.

“Both of these service lines are growing, due to Sioux Falls’ population growth and the aging of the baby boomer and Generation X populations,” Place said.

When gastroenterology services move into the new medical office building, it will create more room for orthopedic services at the Avera Specialty Hospital.

The new three-story building will be situated just to the south of the existing Avera Specialty Hospital, facing Louise Avenue. The building footprint will be on what’s currently a parking lot. Last summer, Avera added more parking to the east to support this building and the specialty hospital.

The three-story building’s design will support up to three additional floors, if needed, with the possibility of building a skywalk between the two buildings. For now, there will be an underground tunnel hallway for staff and transporting patients.

Architect’s rendering of future medical office building (right), and its placement south of the existing Avera Medical Group building (left)

Within the new building, around 90,000 square feet will be dedicated to digestive health, compared to 45,000 square feet in the specialty hospital.

The ground floor will house gastroenterology procedures, including 12 procedure rooms and 50 pre- and post-operative rooms for colonoscopy, endoscopy and other procedures. The second floor will house the gastroenterology clinic, with room to add more gastroenterologists.

Along with population growth, one reason for increasing demand for the specialty of gastroenterology is the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendation in 2021 to lower the age to begin screening colonoscopies to 45.

“This good decision was based on a trend of cancer occurring at younger ages. Colorectal cancer is very treatable when discovered in its earliest stages, and it’s even preventable if we can find and remove precancerous polyps before they develop into cancer,” said Dr. Christopher Hurley, Avera Medical Group gastroenterologist. “Thanks to increasing numbers of people being screened and better treatments, the rate of deaths due to colorectal cancer is decreasing.”

The third floor will be shell space for future growth. The lower level will house sterile processing equipment, staff locker rooms, storage and IT offices.

Citywide, these combined projects will create what Avera McKennan has needed for some time ― more room. “The rapid growth of our Sioux Falls community is exciting, and it also means Avera McKennan must grow with it. We are looking to the future and preparing to care for the people of our growing region,” Place said.

The Sioux Falls metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is projected to increase by more than 100,000 in the next 15 years. Each decade, Sioux Falls’ population grows by an estimated 25 percent.

“After this project is completed in early 2026, we will have developed about half of the 80 acres at Avera on Louise,” Place said. “We don’t have any specific projects in mind for what’s next and are keeping things fluid to be able to match our plans with the medical needs of our city and wider region.”