MWI Health is an organization built on partnerships, with a solid team of providers who join with us to help people live their lives to the fullest. Conveniently located in Sioux Falls near 49th & Louise, our office is a welcoming clinic focused entirely on mental health treatment. Stop in or give us a call if you want to experience our refreshing approach to your individual psychiatric care or medication management.
Our providers and staff appreciate our team approach to mental health at MWI Health. We offer full-time and part-time employment and contracted positions to providers and staff, with on-site and telehealth options and the flexibility to customize schedules and work with a variety of patients.
Under the guidance of Clay Pavlis, M.D., Chief Medical Officer and Lead Psychiatrist, our providers bring a variety of experiences and a wealth of knowledge, with a passion for excellence displayed throughout the team. At MWI Health, we strive for a company culture of growth and encouragement, remaining focused on building a cohesive team whether our providers work remotely or in the office.
Since we were established in 2012, our organization has experienced many successes and continued growth, thanks to a strong support staff and a dedicated leadership team. One of our specialty treatment areas is for drug-resistant depression, and we are proud to be the premier clinic for TMS, bringing NeuroStar Advanced TMS Therapy to the city of Sioux Falls, SD, in 2021. We have also been approved as a Spravato® treatment clinic in 2022. Both of these treatment options give new hope for patients struggling with chronic depression.
We offer expert mental health care to all ages and accept many major insurance plans for psychiatric evaluations, medication management, and psychotherapy. As a specialty clinic, our focus is on walking alongside every patient in their path to mental wellness and a more rewarding life.
Meet our MWI Health Team:
Our Leadership Team
Clay Pavlis, M.D., earned his BS in Biology after graduation Summa Com Laude from South Dakota State University in Brookings, SD. He attended Medical School at the University of Minnesota – Duluth and the University of South Dakota School of Medicine. He is board-certified in Adult Psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.
Dr. Pavlis’s vision for offering personalized care for residents of South Dakota and Minnesota with a team of providers focused on individualized care was the catalyst for him establishing Midwest Wellness Institute, PLLC in 2012, now known as MWI Health. As the chief psychiatrist and medical officer, Dr. Pavlis now leads a growing team of mental health providers, nurses, and staff with organizational core focuses of establishing contracted mental health services through trust-based partnerships, excelling at efficient and thorough independent psychiatric evaluations, and providing patients advanced and comprehensive psychiatric clinic services.
Consistently trying to find innovative ways to improve lives, Dr Pavlis specializes in psychiatric forensic evaluations, independent psychiatric evaluations, Veteran services and evals, opioid addiction treatment with Suboxone, medication management, neuromodulation with TMS, and psychopharmacologenomics. Dr Pavlis also believes strongly in mentorship and education, regularly working with local preceptorship students each semester.
In addition to managing MWI Health’s diverse portfolio of services, Dr. Pavlis also serves as Medical Director at MWI Health, seeing patients of all ages and as young as 5 years old at Community Counseling Services in Madison & Huron, SD, CCM Health in Montevideo, MN, and geriatric patients at Bethel Nursing Home in Madison, SD. Dr Pavlis also oversees the mental health treatment at Windom Area Health in Windom, MN, treats inmates and consults for SD Department of Corrections, Sioux Falls Prison, Women’s Prison in Pierre, SD, Minnehaha County Jail, and provides guidance to mental health providers at Human Services Agency in Watertown, SD.
Steph received her Bachelor’s Degree in Consumer Sciences from South Dakota State University, minoring in Economics, Sociology, and Human Development, Child and Family Studies. With experiences as a small business owner and as a military spouse leader and mentor, she joined MWI Health in 2018 while being stationed overseas, originally taking over website management, design and marketing through social media.
Steph’s leadership and organizational management skills have led her to a role of mentoring the Operations Team, inspiring respectful customer service, monitoring medical billing, leading consistent internal communication with a team approach, maximizing scheduling, properly aligning providers, forming bonds with MWI Health’s contract partners, and spearheading MWI Health’s digital marketing, online presence, and company brand. The position of COO was developed to add to the depth and effectiveness of MWI Health’s Leadership Team in December 2020.
Our Mental Health Team
Dr Jenn Pipitone became a part of our team as a preceptorship student and joined us as a licensed provider in 2021. She received her B.S. in Biology from Limestone College in Gaffney, SC, and a B.S. in Nursing from University of Sioux Falls, graduating in August 2021 with a DNP with an emphasis as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner from University of Missouri-St. Louis.
Dr Pipitone provides care to clients across the lifespan in person and through telepsychiatry. She is experienced in advanced pathophysiology, health assessments, psychopharmacology, clinical diagnostic skills, psychotherapy, and collaboration of care. Her focus is on the promotion and maintenance of health, differential diagnoses, and disease management through the use of pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic interventions, and psychotherapeutic treatment
modalities, and she provides a patient-centered and trauma-informed approach to care.
Dr Pipitone treats all ages and has immediate openings for new pediatric, adolescent, and adult patients in our MWI Health Sioux Falls office as well as at Falls Community Health in Sioux Falls. Dr Pipitone also assists Dr Pavlis with Veteran psychiatric evaluations.
Dr. Giebink studied and gained clinical experience at the University of South Dakota School of Medicine in Vermillion and Sioux Falls, graduating with his medical degree in 1992. He continued his medical training in the General Psychiatry Residency training program at the USD School of Medicine in Sioux Falls, finishing in 1996. He began his full-fledged medical career as a staff psychiatrist working at the Sioux Falls VA Medical Center in Sioux Falls. He would have two stints working there. Between those, he worked at the Human Service Agency in Watertown, one of South Dakota’s Community Mental Health Centers that provides outpatient services. He was the adult psychiatrist and medical director at HSA. Most recently, Dr. Giebink worked at Keystone Treatment Center in Canton, SD, an inpatient/residential facility. In addition to treatment of substance use disorders and gambling addiction, KTC provides psychiatric care for patients who have co-occurring psychiatric disorders. He regularly sees patients in our Sioux Falls clinic and at Capital Area Counseling Services in Pierre, SD.
Dr. Giebink has a wealth of experience working with adults in many psychiatric settings. He has treated the full range of common psychiatric conditions, including mood disorders such as bipolar and major depression, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia. Relationship problems and abuse of alcohol and other substances often play an important role in the mental health difficulties people have. Dr. Giebink has particular interest in helping people with co-occurring disorders, such as substance abuse in patients who have mood and/or anxiety disorders. He provides medication management but understands the importance and effectiveness of other treatment modalities, including individual counseling, group therapy and 12-Step programs, and procedures such as TMS and others. He will recommend these to his patients as he deems appropriate.
Darla was born and raised in Southwest Minnesota, with family members still residing in southwestern and central Minnesota. Joining our MWI Health team in March 2020, Darla has lived in Ohio for the last 25 years with the exception of 2 years practicing in Willmar and Morris, MN. She graduated from Mercy College in Toledo with a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing and then went on to Wayne State University in Detroit to become a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner.
Darla has been a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner since 2015 and has worked in a mental health urgent care facility with both inpatient and outpatient clientele with a wide range of diagnoses, from depression and anxiety to severe mental illnesses. She believes that mental health treatment is more effective when the patient is given tools and empowerment to heal their body, mind, spirit, and emotions, and she focuses on treating each patient as a person and not as their disorder. Darla is seeing patients via telehealth and on-site at Windom Area Health in Windom, MN, assists Dr Pavlis with Veteran Psychiatric Reviews, and sees numerous patients for LinqCare at inpatient clinics in Minnesota and Ohio. Darla joined our team part-time in March 2020 and then became full-time in September 2021.
Diane Teadtke was a member of Phi Theta Kappa earning both her Diploma of Practical Nursing and Associate Degree in Nursing from Northeast Community College in Norfolk, NE, with experience as an LPN at an assisted living facility and nursing home. She started her career as a Registered Nurse in Correctional Nursing before continuing on for a Masters Degree in Nursing with focus on Psychiatric Mental Health. Diane graduated in 2019 as a member of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing and Golden Key International Honor Society and is Board Certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner.
Diane lives in northern Nebraska and joined our team in February 2020, running a streamlined and efficient clinic for inmates at SD Women’s Prison in Pierre, SD, as well as providing Monday-Thursday care for patients at Community Counseling Services in Huron, SD, offering a mix of on-site and telehealth care. Diane also makes regular rounds at Avantara Nursing Home in Huron, SD, and Good Samaritan Society Howard in Howard, SD, where her confident and kind demeanor is enjoyed by the residents.
Kristen joined us in October 2021 and lives in Yankton, SD. She is licensed in South Dakota and Nebraska, earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from University of Sioux Falls, Sioux Falls, SD, and a Master’s of Science Degree as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner from Walden University in Minneapolis, MN, in 2020.
Kristen has extensive experience in psychiatric-mental health nursing since 2006, with training at the S.D. State Penitentiary, Woodfield Center – Lutheran Social Services, Minnehaha County Mobile Crisis Team, Southeastern Behavioral Healthcare, Lewis and Clark Behavioral Health, and S.D. Human Services Center. Self-directed and goal-oriented, Kristen has quickly stepped into two of our fast-paced contracts and impresses us with her direct lines of communication and decision-making abilities.
Kristen sees patients on-site and via telehealth at Minnehaha County Jail, Sioux Falls, SD, and is our primary S.D. Department of Corrections mental health provider.
Lori C. Lima is Board Certified in Minnesota as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner by the American Nurses Credentialing Center who joins us from Marshall, MN, in October 2021. Graduating with honors, Lori received her Bachelor of Science Degree from Dakota Wesleyan University, Mitchell, SD, and her Master’s of Science Degree as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner from The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH in 2020.
Lori is a mental health advocate passionate in providing evidenced-based mental health care to pediatric and adolescents struggling with Autism, FASD, ADHD, anxiety and depression. She utilizes an individualized holistic approach to treatment while empowering and assisting the patient in setting personal wellness goals. Lori is an active listener, with a calm and positive demeanor along with a general interest and respect for her patients allowing her to build and maintain strong therapeutic relations. Lori believes in collaboration and continued education and strives to provide the highest quality of care.
Lori sees patients on-site and via telehealth at CCM Health in Montevideo, MN.
Adrian has been a Registered Nurse for 10 years and has his master’s as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP). He graduated with an ADN from the University of New Mexico-Gallup in 2011. He began his nursing career on a surgical floor at San Juan Regional in Farmington, NM, and transferred to PACU after one year. After a move to Omaha, Adrian continued his nursing career at Nebraska Medicine in a Pre-Op/PACU department. During his time in Omaha he completed a BSN through Western Governors University. After completion of his BSN, Adrian moved to South Dakota, where he currently resides in Baltic, SD with his wife, Lauren. Lauren is an employee of the National Park Service and is the current superintendent at Pipestone National Monument. Prior to becoming a nurse, Adrian worked for the National Park Service at Chaco Culture National Historical Park. Adrian and Lauren have one daughter. Adrian enjoys movies, music, photography, and gardening.
Shjade Smith joined us as a preceptorship student as she was completing the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program through Mount Marty College, where she graduated from in 2022. As her licensure is being processed, she assists Dr Pavlis with our Forensic and Veteran programs.
Shjade brings a variety of nursing experience and has also been in the United States Army Reserve since 2009. She is currently a Squad Leader and Combat Life Saver instructor, with extensive experience in field operations and leadership.
Lacee Feltman stood out to our providers as one of our top preceptorship students as she was completing the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program through Herzing University, where she graduated from in 2022. As her licensure is being processed, she assists Dr Pavlis with our Forensic and Veteran programs.
Lacee has psychiatric nursing experience and was also a nursing home administrator, and we are delighted that she has joined our team as she starts her career as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner.
Kristin is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Qualified Mental Health Professional in South Dakota and Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor in Minnesota, earning her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees from Northern State University in 2008 and 2011. Developing client/therapist relationships built on trust and understanding, Kristin has a warm, compassionate, and straightforward clinical approach to the psychology of behaviors. In our Sioux Falls office, Kristin is an amazingly versatile team player, never shaken or deterred by any situation, and she is always eager to jump in to help and complete tasks that others find too challenging.
Her specialty areas for therapy include depression, anxiety, trauma/PTSD, grief counseling, and reintegration after incarceration. She has extensive experience in working with individuals with serious mental illnesses in correctional care facilities, accruing nine years of experience working in the prison’s acute mental health unit. Kristin has also worked with court-ordered mental health for adolescents and a wide range of disorders.
With experience in diagnostics, crisis management, forensic analysis, psychological testing, and behavior modification, Kristin has been a valued MWI Health behavioral health team member since October 2020. She leads our Jail-Based Competency Restoration Program and is the POC for our Forensic Psychiatric Evaluations, in addition to working with Dr Pavlis to conduct forensic interviews and information gathering.
Our Nursing Staff
Abby joined MWI Health in 2022 as a licensed Registered Nurse and South Dakota’s designated Youth Grievance Monitor, supporting our in-house nursing needs as well as launching a new statewide program.
For more than 20 years of her career, she served as a Director of Nursing. Her areas of experience and expertise include skilled nursing settings where she wrote programming in association with various state agencies to launch new, successful programs focused on traumatic brain injury rehabilitation and challenging behavioral care as well as at a community support provider agency supporting adults with developmental disabilities.
Chris is a licensed Registered Nurse, supporting our providers with our in-house nursing needs as well as the SD prison nursing needs. As a part of our team since May 2019, Chris stands out with her amazing organizational skills, an aptitude for solving technical issues, project management abilities, and her true passion for caring for both our patients and providers. She greets patients with compassion either remotely over the phone or in the Sioux Falls office, manages the MWI Health patients, assists with medication orders and provider support for SD Department of Corrections, and is also trained as a TMS Technician. Chris bridges the gap between our nursing and support staff at MWI Health, making sure our organization is able to continue offering quality psychiatric services, supporting our team of providers, and taking care of the needs of our clients.
Our Office Support Staff
Kathy Howard, LPN, joined the MWI Health team in April 2022 as our Office Manager. With previous experience as the Assistant Director of Nursing at a long-term care facility, Kathy’s leadership abilities and confidence are an asset to building a cohesive team. Born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in Walhalla, North Dakota, Kathy now lives in Madison, SD, with her husband, Bryon. They have three children – Matt, Mack and Maci. Outside of work she loves to spend time with her grandchildren – Cohen, Claire, Greyson, Lexi and Brynlee. Kathy enjoys being outside, riding bike and spending time with family and friends. She also enjoys playing darts in her leisure time.
Janet Spearman, LPN, joined the MWI Health team in April 2022, bringing valuable administrative skills and a wide variety of experiences as a Retired Veteran from the Air National Guard to our team. Earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Information Systems in 2000 and an LPN license in 1985, Janet moved to Sioux Falls in July of 2019 from Nebraska for a job at Sanford Health Neurology. Janet and her husband have a dog, Sami, and they love to travel and spend time with family. In her free time, Janet loves gardening, and especially loves roses. Janet is a compassionate and dedicated member of our Office Support Staff, a trained TMS Treater, and our Jail-Based Competency Educator.
Amber joined the MWI Health team in July 2020 to support the increasing administrative tasks of our growing organization, stepping up as the TMS Coordinator in 2021 and continuing as a TMS Treater in 2022. As one of our TMS Treaters, Amber greets every client with friendly customer service, making their visits as pleasant as possible.
With over twenty years as an Administrative Assistant, Amber has previous experience working in correctional facilities and stands out as having a high level of attention to detail in all areas of administrative support in our Sioux Falls office.
Our Technical Staff
Jackson achieved his Computer Support Specialist Certification/Diploma from Southeast Technical College in 2022, and is currently pursuing an Information and Technology Associates in System Administration and planning to graduate in 2023. Jackson’s long term career goals are to get into the work force and pursue a part-time bachelors/masters and to find a purposeful use of his skills to help others. His hobbies are working with computers, software, programs, wood working, biking, and running.
Prior to becoming MWI Health’s contracted technician for installing and managing our IT infrastructure, system setup, and general troubleshooting, Jackson brought skills from his previous work experience with Argo Adventure for IT infrastructure (Security system installation, network installation and management, general troubleshooting, and installation of new equipment), general and special construction, and mechanical work (vehicle prep, maintenance, and repairs). He also currently works at Southeast Tech’s IT Help desk as a Student Technician where he fixes varying hardware and software issues daily, installs new technology, and recycles and removes older equipment.
