Avera Announces Interim President And CEO

Avera announces Julie Lautt will serve as the Interim President and CEO of Avera Health, while the search for the new President and CEO continues. Lautt will take this role effective Aug. 5. She is currently the Chief Financial Officer for Avera and will continue in her current role while serving as Interim. She has been with Avera for 24 years.

Lautt was named as Avera’s senior financial steward in 2020, having previously served as Vice President of Operational Finance with Avera Health. From 1999 to 2017, she served at Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center as Controller of Managed Hospitals, Vice President and Corporate Controller and then as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

Prior to joining Avera, Lautt served in several positions including Audit Manager at Coopers & Lybrand and PricewaterhouseCoopers. She is a certified public accountant licensed in Arizona and South Dakota. She is also a Chartered Global Management Accountant and member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Julie has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree with majors in accounting and mathematics from the University of South Dakota.

“Julie’s strong leadership and commitment to Avera made her an ideal person to see us through this transition. We thank Julie for her willingness to step into this role,” said Sister Mary Kay Panowicz, Avera System Members Chairperson. “We are also grateful to Bob, who is leaving, and remain inspired by his commitment to hear and respond to the Holy Spirit as he shifts focus to his care needs.”

In April Avera announced Bob Sutton would step down as President and CEO. This difficult decision came as the result of a recently diagnosed serious medical condition requiring an intensive care regimen.

"I want to sincerely thank Bob for his leadership and mentorship during his time at Avera. He is a tremendous strategic leader, and we will miss him dearly,” Lautt said. “I look forward to working closely with our talented senior leadership team to continue to ensure our mission and dedication to Avera communities remains strong during this period of change.”

With a commitment to community service, Julie has served on and chaired many boards. She currently serves as a board member for the Sioux Falls Development Foundation and is on the Bishop O’Gorman Audit and Finance Committees as well as the University of South Dakota Foundation Finance Committee.

She is married to Jeff Lautt and they have six adult children.

Avera is continuing the search process for the President and CEO role.