Sand Promoted to Obstetrics Director

Michelle Sand, RN, was recently promoted to obstetrics director at Brookings Health System. She fills the position upon the retirement of former obstetrics director Mary Schwaegerl, RN.

As obstetrics director, Sand will plan, direct and evaluate all labor and delivery, postpartum and newborn services at New Beginnings Birth Center. She will also oversee lactation support services and programs, including New Beginnings Baby Café, as well as the volunteer doula program. In addition, Sand will supervise OB nursing staff and maintain relationships with delivering obstetricians.

Sand earned her nursing degree from South Dakota State University and has 11 years of obstetrics experience. She has worked as an obstetrics nurse at Brookings Health’s New Beginnings Birth Center since 2013. During her time at New Beginnings, Sand has acted as the obstetrics unit educator, helping to train new team members and create nursing staff education. She has also focused on quality and safety, implementing tools for preeclampsia, postpartum hemorrhage and other obstetric emergencies.

In the healthcare industry, Sand has been the chair of the South Dakota chapter of the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) since 2020. She is also a member of the North and South Dakota Perinatal Quality Collaborative and the South Dakota Perinatal Association. She has also attended the University of Iowa’s Advanced Practice Institute on promoting the adoption of evidence-based knowledge into nursing practice.

Brookings Health’s workforce embodies the spirit of teamwork, working together across disciplines to care for local patients and residents. Individuals who want to join Brookings Health System’s Top 20 Rural Community Hospital team can find a position right for them at brookingshealth.org/Careers.

About Brookings Health System

Brookings Health System, located in Brookings, South Dakota, includes a 49-bed hospital, the 79-bed The Neighborhoods at Brookview nursing home, Brookhaven Estates senior living apartments, Yorkshire Eye Clinic & Optical, and medical clinics in Arlington, White and Volga, South Dakota. It is a non-profit, city-owned facility that offers the community a full range of inpatient, outpatient, emergency and extended care services. Brookings Hospital provides local access to doctors in Brookings and offers robotic da Vinci surgery and Mako robotic-arm assisted procedures, making it one of the premier rural community hospitals in South Dakota. For more information about the services offered at Brookings Health System, please call (605) 696-9000 or visit us on the Web at brookingshealth.org.