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Horizon Health Foundation Welcomes New Board Member
(HOWARD, SD) – Horizon Health Foundation has recently welcomed Jim Burg, a Jerauld County rancher, to the Foundation’s board of directors, which is comprised of seven leaders representing the Horizon Health Care, Inc. service area. The board members guide the direction of the Foundation and oversee operations including financial management and advocacy efforts.
Jim is a graduate of South Dakota State University, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Animal Science. A third-generation rancher, Jim has been co-owner of Firesteel Ranch near Wessington Springs for over fifty years. Today, his sons manage the ranch, and he and his brother remain involved in semi-retired roles.
In addition to his farming career, Jim spent twenty-seven years in the National Guard, retiring as a lieutenant colonel. He served two years in the state Senate, and 10 years in the state Legislature, during which time he served as assistant minority leader. He served 18 years as a Public Utilities Commissioner and served as chairman of the electricity committee of the National PUC Commissioners. In this role, he was a strong advocate for the development of wind energy in South Dakota. Given his passion for public utilities, Jim has been involved in many National Association of Regulatory Utility Commission (NARUC) committees and served on their board of directors. He has also served on advisory boards for the National Regulatory Research Institute, Electric Power Research Institute, and New Mexico State Forum.
In South Dakota, Jim has had a lifelong association with the South Dakota 4-H, and served as chair of South Dakota 4-H Foundation. He has also served as a board member for South Dakota Corn Growers and is a past Board of Director of South Dakota Chamber of Commerce and Board of Director/Treasurer of South Dakota Retailer’s Association. From 2009-2017, Jim served as Chair of the State FSA Committee.
Locally in Wessington Springs, Jim is a member of the St. Joseph Catholic Church, a past Mayor in the community, and is a Farmers Union member.
Given his extensive history in ensuring the future for ranchers and rural South Dakotans like himself, Jim is looking forward to this opportunity to serve on the Horizon Health Foundation’s board of directors. “Health care is essential to our small communities (like Wessington Springs),” said Jim. “We have a strong service provider through Horizon Health Care in our communities and I want to help ensure that services remain here well into the future.”
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, Inc. 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, operating in coordination with Horizon Health Care, Inc., is the duly designated fundraising arm for Horizon Health Care. In the broadest sense, the purpose of the Foundation is to create an awareness of the financial needs of Horizon Health Care, 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.horizonhealthfounda... or call 605.772.5907.
About Horizon Health Care, Inc.
For the past 40 years, Horizon Health Care, Inc. has been providing personalized, affordable, high-quality medical, dental and mental health care through a rural, community-based network in South Dakota. Horizon is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) that serves the medical, dental and mental health care needs of South Dakotans in rural, medically underserved areas through 105,000 patient visits annually in 32 community health centers in: Aberdeen, Alcester, Bison, Bryant, De Smet, Eagle Butte, Elk Point, Faith, Fort Thompson, Howard, Huron, Isabel, La Plant, Lake Preston, Martin, McIntosh, Mission, Plankinton, Wessington Springs, White River, Woonsocket, and Yankton. For more information please visit www.horizonhealthcare.org.