Mar. 24, 2020 COVID-19 Message

Hello, this is Jason Merkley, President and CEO of Brookings Health System.

Today the South Dakota Department of Health announced the first positive case of COVDI-19 in Brookings County. Please know that our local health system is prepared and continuously planning with the city, county and state officials to care for our community and surrounding area. If you are looking for additional information, Brookings health is doing our best to keep our community informed about COVID-19 on our website, brookingshealth.org/COVID.

While there is currently no indication of community transmission in Brookings County, I want to stress that we must remain vigilant to slow the spread of this virus. We must continue social distancing, frequent hand washing and all other standard precautions. We must do this to protect our family, friends and neighbors. We must also do this to prevent overwhelming our local healthcare resources. We are here to care for you, but I need every employee healthy to do so. Help us help you and stop the spread.

Lastly, I do believe at the end of this pandemic our community will be stronger for having endured this together. I am proud to see our community businesses, city and county rise up and lead the efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19. The team members and medical staff at Brookings Health System are also stepping up during this time of crisis by providing safe care to our patients and residents. I am equally as proud of their efforts and commitment in combating this pandemic. We are in this together, we are stronger together and we are here for you.