Oct. 7, 2022

Sanford Health has reopened the newly renovated Sioux Empire Medical Museum.

It has been closed for remodeling the past few years and now is ready for visitors again.

The museum opened in 1975 as the state’s first and only medical museum. It’s located on the lower level of Sanford USD Medical Center and is dedicated to the Sioux Valley Hospital School of Nursing Alumni Association.

Visitors will be taken through the history of nursing through video, photos, historical medical equipment, uniforms and panels of information.

One of the highlights of the museum is an iron lung. When polio first hit the region in the 1940s, the iron lung was used to treat patients who contracted the disease. These machines were used to help patients breathe artificially until they could breathe on their own again, typically after a few weeks.

“Nurses touch almost all of us at some point in our lives. The Sioux Empire Medical Museum is an amazing way to honor the nurses who came before us and paved the way for how we care for patients today,” Kelly Hefti, vice president of nursing and clinical services at Sanford Health in Sioux Falls, said in a statement. “As we reflect on how the profession of nursing has evolved through the years, I want to thank the Sioux Valley Hospital School of Nursing Alumni Association for their efforts in preserving and remembering this history.”

The museum is free and open for people to visit from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays starting next week. It will be closed on holidays throughout the year.