Dr. Craig Crismon specializes in care for the health of infants, children, adolescents and young adults. 

As a nephrologist, Dr. Tina Melanson specializes in the diagnosis and management of kidney diseases and disorders. This includes hypertension, electrolyte disturbances, critical care and management of patients needing or with a kidney transplant.

Dr. Melanson provides dialysis services at Prairie Lakes Hospital in Watertown, as well as at Prairie Lakes satellite dialysis units located at: 

• Ortonville Area Health Services (Ortonville, MN)
• Indian Health Services (Sisseton, SD)

Read More: Nephrology Clinic | Dialysis | "Debunking Common Myths About Kidneys"

Learn more: 24/7 Emergent Care

Dr. Bipin Amin sees patients at the Prairie Lakes Cancer Center. He specializes in medical oncology and hematology and has over 30 years of experience providing cancer care. Dr. Amin believes in providing a combination of healing and teaching to his patients.

Resources: Prairie Lakes Cancer Center  Cancer Care Team  Compassionate Care

Planning Your Future Care

During your life there may come a time when you or a member of your family may be asked to make difficult decisions about your health care. You may make these future decisions easier on your loved ones by communicating your wishes now by talking with them openly and completing the proper legal documents. 

Advance directives are forms that outline the care you would like to receive or not receive if you are unable to speak for yourself. The three types of forms are Living Will, Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care and Comfort One. These forms do not have to be completed by an attorney, however they do need to be signed and/or notarized.

When you are making decisions and completing your advance directives, think about the following situations:

• If you have a sudden illness
• If you have a severe accident
• If you become terminally ill

Consider what type of treatment you would want in each of these situations. Write your wishes clearly and remember to revise your documents if your wishes ever change. As you age, your decisions may change.

What is a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care?

A Durable Power of Attorney for health care document authorizes another person to make health care decisions for an individual who, temporarily or permanently, can no longer make or communicate such decisions. The term “durable” means that the individual appointed is authorized to make health care decisions on behalf of the person who becomes incapacitated — for example, a person who is in a coma after a car accident. Without a Durable Power of Attorney for health care, the family member or close friend making the health care decision for you may not be the individual you would select.

What is a Living Will?

A Living Will directs what treatment to provide or withhold when you are terminally ill. It specifies a person’s choices of life-sustaining treatment to be received should the need arise. Unlike a Durable Power of Attorney for health care, a Living Will normally does not allow for the appointment of an individual to make health care decisions.

What is Comfort One?

Comfort One is an advance directive available through the South Dakota Department of Health pertaining to the administration of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, which is a medical order based on informed consent directing emergency medical services personnel to not perform resuscitative measures in the event of a respiratory or cardiac arrest or malfunction. Individuals wishing to register for Comfort One should request the form from their health care provider.

Next Steps

The best time to make an advance directive is when you are healthy, of sound mind, and not worried about a health condition. As you age and your health changes, it is important to review, update, and communicate your wishes.

Download PLHS's Health Care Planning Book that includes Living Will and Durable Power of Attorney forms:

Health Care Planning

Where can I get help with advance directives?

Our hospital has social workers that are available to provide patients with forms, answer questions, and locate a notary public to complete the forms. You can also work with an attorney of your choice to formulate an advance directive.

More Resources:

• Aging with Dignity: www.agingwithdignity.org
• Minnesota Board on Aging: www.mnaging.org
• POLST (Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment): www.polst.org
• Comfort One: www.sdemta.org
• South Dakota Department of Health: www.doh.sd.gov
• Minnesota Department of Health: www.health.state.mn.us

Hospice and Palliative Care:

• LifeCircle South Dakota: www.LifeCirclesd.org
• American Hospice Foundation: www.americanhospice.org
• National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization: www.nhpco.org
• Caring Connections: www.caringinfo.org
• Minnesota Network of Hospice & Palliative Care: www.mnhpc.org

We treat you like family, because here you are family. Our team knows and understands the nature of healing. As an independent, rural healthcare system, we have the freedom to follow a mission created by Board Members who are your neighbors. They know our ten county community.

Our Mission

We make a positive difference in the health of the patients and communities we serve.

Our Vision

Prairie Lakes Healthcare System will be the keystone of our community, providing exceptional care every day. 

Your Health : Our Mission

This motto is foundational for our team. It is a reminder to make a positive difference in the health of our community members both within our facility and out in the region. You can expect Prairie Lakes Healthcare System to provide quality and compassionate care, partner with organizations in the region, sponsor wellness initiatives,  bring specialty services to communities outside of Watertown through outreach clinics, and provide support and education through events and articles. You lead the charge of your health and wellness journey, and we are here for you. 

As a regional medical center, Prairie Lakes Healthcare System provides the highest quality care with advanced technology and highly-trained staff, who take great pride in caring for the people of the region. By offering a variety of services locally, patients and their families can take advantage of care right here at home. Prairie Lakes offers the best of both worlds: the high touch care of a small, community health system, and the high tech advanced services found in larger cities.

Giving thanks...

We are hopeful your experience with us and the services you receive at Prairie Lakes Healthcare System are more than satisfactory. It is our hope that your care is exceptional! It is important to us that we exceed your expectations.

If a healthcare professional or service provider treats you in an outstanding manner, we would like to know. We are passionate about recognizing our associates who go above and beyond their call to service. If you would like to tell your story, please contact the Foundation office at 605.882.7631 or send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Taking it a step further...

If you would like to do more than tell your story of someone who makes your experience at Prairie Lakes Healthcare System more comfortable, consider giving a gift in honor of that person. If you make a donation to the Prairie Lakes Healthcare Foundation in honor of a special healthcare provider, it not only praises the person for good work, but ensures improvements to current and future programs, services and technology. These improvements will enhance medical services at Prairie Lakes Healthcare System for patients and providers in our community and region.

Donate Now

Cash

Cash is a frequently used asset for all forms of charitable gifts and provides the most immediate tax deductions.

Investment Assets

Gifts of highly appreciated securities enable the donor to deduct not just their original cost, but also any "paper profit" present in the gift. There are no capital gains taxes due when you gift securities. Mutual funds and other types of investments offer the same advantages.

Real Estate

Tax benefits available for gifts of highly appreciated real estate are virtually identical to those for gifts of securities that have increased in value. You will avoid capital gains tax on your profit and receive an income tax charitable deduction for the full fair market value of the property you contribute.

Business Interests

Many of our friends own stock in their own businesses that can be given at extremely low cost, providing personal deductions that are "paid for" by the company.

Beneficiary

Most retirement plans, annuities and life insurance policies let you decide who benefits from your assets in the event of your demise through the designation of beneficiaries. The Prairie Lakes Healthcare Foundation has benefited from being listed as a beneficiary.

For more information contact our Foundation office at 605.882.7631 or email the Foundation at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

The most practical way to make significant gifts may be through your estate plan, by means of a will, living trust or a beneficiary designation on a life insurance policy or retirement account. Such gifts are wholly revocable while you are alive and may save significant taxes for your estate.

Wills and Living Trusts

A bequest is the most traditional way to provide significant help for worthwhile causes. With a gift through your will or living trust, you are able to keep full use of your gift assets during your life.

You can structure a bequest in ways that will be both personally satisfying and tax advantageous. Charitable bequests take many forms:

• Outright (specific) bequest: This is a gift of a particular amount of money or item of property (for example: "I bequeath $25,000.").
• Residuary bequest: The residue of an estate is the amount remaining after all specific bequests have been distributed; the exact amount will not be known until the final accounting is completed. The residue may pass as a percentage bequest (e.g., "I give one-third of the residue of my estate.").
• Contingent bequest: You can name a secondary beneficiary to receive property in the event the primary beneficiary is not alive (for example: "I bequeath $10,000 to my father, but if he has predeceased me, I direct the $10,000 be paid to...")

Financial Accounts

Most accounts at financial institutions can be made payable on death to a person or a charitable organization. Ask the manager of the institution how you can arrange to designate a death beneficiary for your CD, savings account, share accounts, etc. In some areas, this is accomplished through a "P.O.D." (payable on death) designation. Securities in a brokerage account can be left through a "T.O.D." (transfer on death) designation.

Retirement Accounts

Your estate can save both income taxes and estate taxes if you make a charitable organization beneficiary of part or all of your IRA or other retirement account. Family members might keep only 30 cents on the dollar, after taxes, from these assets. Changes in IRS regulations have made it simpler and more favorable to name worthwhile causes as beneficiaries of IRAs and other retirement accounts.

Life Insurance

You can name Prairie Lakes Healthcare Foundation as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy (or a percentage of the proceeds); just contact the company for appropriate forms. A better idea may be to transfer actual ownership of the policy to us (assuming it is a "surplus" policy that is no longer needed for family security). Your gift will entitle you to an income tax deduction, and any future premium payments will be tax deductible.

Residences and Farms

Friends who own personal residences, including condos and vacation homes, can make gifts of their property but continue to use the property for the rest of their lives. The same opportunities are available with farms and ranches. The advantage of a lifetime gift, reserving lifetime use, is that you receive an income tax charitable deduction, in addition to estate tax savings.

Let Us 'Borrow' Investment Assets Temporarily with a Charitable Lead Trust

To continue the agricultural comparison, you can "keep the tree but give the fruit." It's possible to contribute merely the income from securities or other property temporarily and enjoy substantial income tax or gift and estate tax benefits. This technique is called the "charitable lead trust." Alternatively, you can lend cash (up to $250,000) and remove the annual interest from your tax bracket.

This technique can be especially helpful to friends who need large charitable deductions in a year of exceptionally high income, or face heavy federal estate taxes.

For more information contact our Foundation office at 605.882.7631 or send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..