Monument Health Opens Region's First Epilepsy Monitoring Unit

Monument Health announced the opening of a two-bed Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU) at Rapid City Hospital. The unit, which began seeing patients in February 2026, is the first of its kind in the region and represents a significant investment in neurological care for communities across western South Dakota and eastern Wyoming.

Prior to this service, patients requiring epilepsy monitoring were referred to facilities in Minnesota or Colorado. The EMU allows those patients to receive that care within the Monument Health network, staying close to home and connected to the physicians and care teams they already know and trust.

"This has been a two-year effort by multiple team members to bring something our patients genuinely needed," said Kim York, Director of Neuroscience at Monument Health. "The fact that we can now keep these patients in their community, with their families, makes a real difference in their experience and their outcomes."

The EMU offers five-day elective admissions during which patients are monitored using an electroencephalogram, or EEG. The unit serves patients who are seeking a diagnosis for unexplained episodes, those already living with epilepsy who may benefit from medication adjustments, and individuals whose symptoms may not be epileptic in origin. Monument Health expects to serve at least 24 to 30 patients per year through the program.

"This is such an important diagnostic and management tool," said Donald Barr, M.D., epileptologist and Neurology Section Chief at Monument Health. "If we identify that someone is having more frequent seizures, we can optimize their medications and improve their quality of life. And for patients whose episodes turn out not to be epileptic, we can connect them with the right treatment entirely. It can be a game changer, not just for the patient, but for their family."