The new President of Avera Sacred Heart Hospital in Yankton says healthcare in general will face many challenges in the next few years. The biggest of those is the adjustment to the Affordable Care Act, which drives much of the insurance coverage.

Doug Ekeren says a challenge they will face in particular is the declining populations in many of the counties in southeast South Dakota and northeast Nebraska…

 

Ekeren says a declining population base could have an impact on the services that can be offered at the hospital…

 

Ekeren is a twenty year veteran of the hospital, and follows Pam Rezac, who retired last summer, as President.