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On Tuesday, August 8, Horizon Health Foundation recognized Dr. Tom and Kathy Dean and Jans Corporation with its Circle of Care Philanthropy Awards.
By establishing the “Circle of Care” awards Horizon Health Care and the Horizon Health Foundation recognizes teams and individuals who embody Horizon’s values and mission to ensure our circle remains connected and all patients have access to seamless, quality care.
“It is an honor to recognize philanthropists Jans Corporation and Dr. Tom and Kathy Dean for Horizon’s Circle of Care awards,” said Tracy Pardy, Horizon Health Foundation Executive Director. “Through their financial investment Horizon can continue our charitable work to make a difference and impact patients in our 22 communities across South Dakota.”
The Outstanding Philanthropic Corporation Award was presented to Jans Corporation for the Jans’ family’s outstanding commitment to Horizon initiatives through financial support and encouraging others to take leadership roles toward philanthropy and community involvement.
The mission of Jans Corporation is Building Dreams, Solutions, and Tools.
Since its beginning in 1982, Jans Corporation has been involved in design/build, construction management, and general contracting with special emphasis in offices, medical clinics, educational and spiritual facilities, commercial buildings, and light industrial. Jans Corporation approaches all projects from a value engineering perspective. Today, Jans Corporation continues to be one of the larger commercial construction companies in the state. Jans Corporation maintains a yard, which houses the equipment, tools, and other support functions for the job sites. The office staff handles design, estimating, project management, payroll, personnel, and accounting functions.
Horizon has partnered with Jans on many building projects such as Faith Dental, Alcester Medical and Dental, Plankinton Addition and remodel, Mission clinic, and the Foundation building in which Brian Jans was inspired by Horizon employees through the employee giving campaign.
Since the inception of the foundation Jans Corporation has supported our mission by providing funding to help remove barriers to care for our patients across South Dakota.
The Outstanding Philanthropist Award was presented to Dr. Tom and Kathy Dean for their exceptional generosity.
Dr. Thomas Dean is a retired Family Physician from Wessington Springs, South Dakota. He graduated with honors from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in 1972 and completed a residency in Family Medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle. For more than 40 years he practiced at Horizon Health Care Community Health Centers in Wessington Springs, Woonsocket, and Plankinton. He never lost sight of what he calls the most rewarding and important aspect of his field: knowing the patient’s story and developing long-term relationships to make better clinical decisions. In addition to his clinical and community activities Dr. Dean has been involved in a variety of rural health leadership and health policy activities on both state and national levels. He was president of the National Rural Health Association and served two terms on the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, an advisory body to the United States Congress on Medicare policy. He was recognized as Practitioner of the Year by the National Rural Health Association and Family Doctor of the Year by the South Dakota Academy of Family Physicians. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Dean took to the national spotlight and spoke about the challenges rural healthcare facilities have faced.
Kathy Dean was born in Seattle, Washington, and graduated from the University of Washington School of Nursing in 1966. Her nursing career included time at the Chelsea Naval Hospital in Boston and at St. Monica’s Home, a small nursing home for women in Roxbury, Massachusetts. She returned to Seattle and worked in various departments of maternity nursing at Harborview Hospital and the University Hospital in Seattle, eventually becoming director of the delivery room at University Hospital. In 1975 Kathy began her midwifery education at the Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing in Hyden, Kentucky. She graduated in 1977. In July of 1978 Kathy and family moved to Wessington Springs, South Dakota, where she began her midwifery practice. She was one of the first nurse midwives to be licensed by the state of South Dakota and provided maternity services and women’s health care in Wessington Springs for more than 30 years.
Dr. Dean was recently inducted in the S.D. Hall of Fame for not only his numerous accomplishments in the field of family medicine, but also his dedication to philanthropy and a wide variety of leadership roles he has served locally, regionally, and nationally.
The Deans established the Dr. Tom and Kathy Dean Fund for Excellence in Rural Health Care Endowment to provide a lasting legacy to Horizon Health Care communities across South Dakota. The endowment ensures Horizon keeps pace with the rapidly changing health care environment. It will help in meeting the community’s needs through Horizon’s Rooted in Rural program by assisting in the recruitment and retention of physicians and other health care providers for rural/frontier communities thereby endeavoring to ensure medical excellence for Horizon Health Care patients.
About Horizon Health Foundation
The Horizon Health Foundation was established in 2016 to ensure rural health care access to those in need and provide funding for Horizon Health Care Horizon Health Foundation, a tax-exempt, non-profit corporation, seeks through responsible activities to encourage and derive sustaining gift support from current and former patients and interested friends, including corporate entities. The Horizon Health Foundation Office, operating in coordination with Horizon Health Care, is the duly designated fund-raising arm for Horizon Health Care, Inc. In the broadest sense, the purpose of the Foundation is to create an awareness of the financial needs of Horizon Health which are not provided by patient charges and to systematically implement plans by which dollar needs can be met. For more information, please visit http://www.horizonhealthfoundation.com or call 605.772.4553.