Prairie Lakes Healthcare System is pleased to welcome Hamid Assadi, MD and John Kinross-Wright, MD to our team of Hospitalists who manage the medical care for patients who are hospitalized at Prairie Lakes. Prairie Lakes Hospitalists are medical doctors with expertise in internal medicine and family practice.

Dr. Assadi received his medical degree from Ross University School of Medicine in Portsmouth, Dominica and completed his family medicine residency at the University of Wisconsin Family Medicine in Wausau, WI. He most recently has been a Hospitalist and Nocturnist at Aspirus Wausau Hospital in Wisconsin while working with medical students as an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin School of Medicine. In his spare time, Dr. Assadi enjoys traveling, playing tennis, and watching movies.

Dr. Kinross-Wright was born in Montana where he completed his undergrad before going on to receive his medical degree from the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, CO and completed his internal medicine residency at the Sanford School of Medicine at the University of South Dakota in Sioux Falls. He is a member of the American Medical Association, American College of Physicians, and the South Dakota State Medical Association. In his free time, Dr. Kinross-Wright enjoys spending time with his family, going outdoors with his dogs, sitting down reading with his cats, and traveling when he can find the time.

Prairie Lakes Healthcare System has a team of hospitalists who make sure that all aspects of patient care during a hospital stay are being addressed. They are medical doctors with advanced expertise in fields such as internal medicine and family practice. Hospitalists work closely with the pharmacy staff, nurses, social workers and other medical professionals to create and complete a comprehensive plan of care for your stay at Prairie Lakes Hospital.

Learn More About the Prairie Lakes Hospitalist Team and Program

Prairie Lakes Healthcare System (PLHS) is pleased to welcome Lynn Severson to the administrative leadership staff. As Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Severson will provide executive leadership for financial management at PLHS.

Severson grew up in Duluth, MN and received her accounting degree from the University of Wisconsin Superior followed later by her master’s degree in healthcare administration from Concordia University in St. Paul, MN. She has over 20 years of experience in healthcare, most recently working at Cuyuna Regional Medical Center in Crosby, MN as the Chief Operating Officer. Prior to that she worked at Essentia Health for several years holding a variety of financial leadership roles. Severson is a member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association and is active in United Way.

Severson and her husband, Scott, will be relocating to Watertown from Brainerd, MN. They have five children and two grandchildren.  In their spare time, they enjoy spending time with family, traveling and outdoor activities such as boating, biking, and kayaking.

“I have a strong passion for healthcare in rural communities,” Severson said.  “Prairie Lakes shares that same passion with the commitment to deliver high quality care to patients right here in the community where we all live and work.  My husband and I are truly impressed with how welcoming the community is and we cannot wait to become more involved.”

Severson joins the Prairie Lakes Administrative Leadership Team consisting of Shelly Turbak, Chief Nursing Officer, Alison Gilbertson, Vice President of Human Resources, Laurie Fieber, Vice President of Operations, Tim Pugsley, Chief Information Officer, and John Allen, Chief Executive Officer.

About Prairie Lakes Healthcare System

October 25th marked South Dakota's Winter Readiness Day! During that time, our healthcare safety team spent time gearing up for the chilly temperatures and what that means for our patients and potential patients, visitors, and staff. Prairie Lakes Healthcare System will be sharing winter prepardeness tips all season long to ensure you and your family stay warm and safe. 

Blizzards that last for days, snow that accumulates by the foot, bitter wind and cold that stings the face, all of these things are just part of living in Northeast South Dakota during the winter months! 

While we are no strangers to the hazards winter can bring, it is still prudent to review safety and preparedness steps that should be taken before, during and after winter storms. 

One of the many things we can do to protect ourselves is to dress appropriately as the weather slowly starts to drop to near or below freezing temperatures. It's important to layer, keep your feet dry & warm, and protect your skin. Print the following graphic and stick it on your refrigerator as a reminder or to help explain to young children.

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For more information and Winter Readiness tips, visit The National Weather Service Weather-Ready Nation.

At Prairie Lakes Healthcare System we often times care for patients nearing the end of life. In order to provide a blanket of comfort and compassion to those patients and their families, we are blessed to have Jodi Brinkman, Pastoral Care Representative and Sherri Sellers, Spiritual Care Coordinator. While their roles are very different, they both bring a wealth of experience, passion, and emotional support to our patients and employees. 

Pastoral Care

Jodi explains her role as Pastoral Care Representative, "In-house Pastoral Care (PC) is an opportunity to provide spiritual and emotional support to patients, families, and staff of Prairie Lakes Healthcare System. In-house PC provides support (24 hours a day; seven days per week; 365 days per year) with the help of pastoral care volunteers from our community. 

Anyone may request services at any time from Pastoral Care. Grief support, a new medical crisis, contacting one’s own church family, debriefings from crisis, praying with someone, reading scripture, providing a Bible, celebrating and embracing end of life or the beginning of life, accidents, kidney dialysis challenges, cancer treatment, wound care, same day services, emergency room visits and more is just a few of the areas/ways that Pastoral Care is here to journey with any and all that we encounter or are requested to visit. 

Prairie Lakes also has a beautiful chapel on 2^nd floor that can be used as a place of peace and encouragement." 

Spiritual Care

Sherri recently joined the Prairie Lakes Family in her role after years of service in local parishes. She explains what her job means to her, "Working with the Hospice team is incredible. Once a rapport is established with the family and patient, the most astounding part of my position is helping those folks identify and process some of their emotions so that as they nurture their spirituality, they begin to discover a peace and a calm. When they express, ‘I’m going home’, it is the most amazing sentence ever. Walking with them that close to eternity is unbelievable. I find there is deep sorrow as well as mountain top joy experienced with each family I am privileged to walk with. 

Walking with these families through the dying process, and then having them come together in Grief Support is one more level of continuum of care. Families share their stories and know they do not walk this valley of grief alone. I am so very fortunate to know them in their darkest hours, to assist in climbing back up the gorge, and then to be able to call many ‘friend’." 

For in-house pastoral care, you may contact Jodi Brinkman at 605-880-1145; 605-882-6743, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and she is also available on the Voalte system. For Hospice Spiritual Care, contact Sherri Sellers at 605-882-7714 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..