Health care providers across the country are cooperating on a program called the “Zero Suicide Initiative.” The providers are working to provide more immediate help to those in distress.

Dr Matt Stanley, with Avera Behavioral Health, says there are not enough professionals in South Dakota…..

Stanley says many of those providers are concentrated in the larger cities, and that’s why they are looking at alternate methods of delivery……

Stanley says they advise people on a major step they can take in moving toward a zero suicide rate….

The latest report from the state Health Department shows the state ranks seventh in the US for suicide deaths per capita.