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Watertown's Prairie Lakes Health acquires Brown Clinic

BrownClinic.org

Prairie Lakes Healthcare System has closed their acquisition deal of the Brown Clinic in Watertown.

The deal goes into effect Jan. 1, 2024.

John Allen is CEO of Prairie Lakes. He said this represents a step forward for their 90,000 patients.

“The one notable gap in the care continuum has been primary care," Allen said. "So, the opportunity to come together with Brown Clinic is advantageous for the community in so many ways, but for Prairie Lakes its an opportunity to really largely complete the continuum of care.”

Allen said the decision should help Prairie Lakes become more connected.

“The entire industry is moving towards a quality and value focus, and the acquisition of Brown Clinic and the opportunity to integrate them within our operation creates that opportunity to actually integrate care and provide care management services to the community,” Allen said.

But on the day-to-day level, Allen said not much will happen in front of the curtain.

“Brown Clinic will continue to operate at its current points of service," Allen said. "For the typical consumer, the typical patient, you’ll see changes occur, frankly, slowly over time rather than all at once.”

The clinic will be renamed the Prairie Lakes Brown Clinic.

C.J. Keene is a Rapid City-based journalist covering the legal system, education, and culture