Kate Schmidt is a Certified Nurse Practitioner with the Urgent Care Department. She was born and raised in South Dakota and attended nursing school through the University of South Dakota. She completed her Masters in Science through Walden University in 2020 and received her ANCC accreditation in Family Practice. She has been in Urgent Care since 2021 and loves the variety and fast paced environment. Kate enjoys spending her free time in the outdoors. She loves to hike, backpack, cycle, kayak, and ski.
Michael completed his Physician Assistant training at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, in Omaha, NE in 1996. He began practicing with Rapid City Medical Center in 2016.
Diane completed her Physician Assistant training at University of North Dakota, in Fargo, ND in 1994, and received her masters from the University of Nebraska, in Lincoln, NE in 2003. She began practicing with Rapid City Medical Center in 2015.
Born and raised in Rapid City, Dr. Sears graduated with a bachelor of science from the University of Notre Dame and then went to the University of South Dakota’s Sanford School of Medicine. She completed residency training at the Rapid City Regional Health Family Medicine Residency program. She has practiced family medicine in Rapid City for over thirteen years.
Dr. Sears has been married for over 16 years and has four children who keep her very busy. She enjoys watching them play and participate in the activities they love. When she’s not following her children’s activities, she likes to spend time at her cabin in the Black Hills.
What she loves about Urgent Care is the fast paced opportunity to care for patients of all ages.
Dr. Sears’s individual practice philosophy is that health is not a number or a statistic that needs to be achieved. It is individual to each patient. The first step to achieving a healthier lifestyle is a commitment to work on all aspects of ourselves. She strives to partner with her patients to help them set new health goals and works with them to achieve them.
Dr. Rafferty was raised in Sturgis, South Dakota, and attended medical school at the University of South Dakota. He completed residency training at the Regional Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program.
He has been in urgent care since 2009 and enjoys the fast pace and variety of conditions that patients bring to the urgent care environment. Outside of work, he enjoys any type of outdoor activity, including rock climbing, skiing, mountain biking and fly fishing.
Married for over thirty years, Dr. Rafferty’s wife Mary bravely fought cancer and left behind a legacy of five children and three grandchildren.
