Medical & Mental Health in South Dakota (SD DOC)
How health care works in South Dakota prisons — in-house SD DOC Health Services, specialty and telemedicine care through Avera, mental-health care, and the grievance process.
Health care in South Dakota prisons
Unlike many states that hire a private prison-health company, South Dakota delivers care in-house through SD DOC Health Services, the department’s own Medical Services division. It provides on-site primary care, behavioral health, dental, optometry, laboratory, and x-ray services across SD DOC facilities using its own staff. There is no single named statewide private medical contractor.
Care that the prison clinics cannot provide on site — specialty consultations and telemedicine — is delivered through the Avera health system.
Routine care begins at each prison’s on-site clinic, generally through a health-services request submitted to the facility’s medical staff. A co-pay to see a provider may apply; the current amount is not posted as official policy, so confirm whether a charge applies, how much it is, and any exemptions with the facility’s health services unit, because details change.
Specialty, telemedicine, and mental-health care
Routine and lower-acuity care is delivered at each prison’s on-site clinic. Specialty and telehealth services are provided through the Avera health system, which supplies consultations and remote care that the facility clinics do not staff.
Behavioral and mental-health care is provided in-house as part of SD DOC Health Services, ranging from clinic-based care at individual prisons to specialized programming.
Pregnant women housed at the South Dakota Women’s Prison in Pierre receive OB/GYN care.
The grievance process
A health or treatment concern that cannot be resolved with the facility’s medical staff can be raised through the SD DOC grievance process, the department’s formal procedure for complaints. The procedure has internal review steps within the prison and the department.
South Dakota does not have a separate independent corrections ombudsman. Oversight functions sit with the Board of Pardons and Paroles and a legislative corrections oversight commission rather than a dedicated prison ombudsman. The grievance process is the route for review of a health or treatment concern. Confirm the current grievance steps and deadlines with the facility’s medical staff.
Verify Before Acting
Sources
This page is compiled from the following publicly available sources. Policies change without notice — confirm current details with the facility before relying on them.