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Dr. James Michael Keegan is an infectious disease specialist with more than 25 years of experience in the medical field and serves as the PYA’s Antibiotic Stewardship Program Service Line Leader. Throughout his career of practicing medicine, Dr. Keegan has taken an active role in improving the quality of healthcare and patient outcomes by serving in numerous medical director and hospital executive leadership positions. Dr. Keegan has taken special interest in solving the negative impact of the over reliance on broad-spectrum antibiotics and has designed and implemented numerous and successful antibiotic stewardship programs (ASPs) that have shown to decrease the incidence of drug-resistant bacteria.

“When we interact with rural hospitals, particularly critical access hospitals, there’s an opportunity to influence the prescribing patterns of the whole community.”

Some of the titles Dr. Keegan has held include Medical Director of Antibiotic Stewardship, Medical Director of infection control, Chief Medical Officer, & Chief Executive Officer at healthcare facilities in South Dakota. He founded a healthcare consulting firm centered around the provision of antibiotic stewardship programs for hospitals and communities across the country and is a consultant to the South Dakota Department of Health regarding antibiotic stewardship. Dr. Keegan has also served as a Clinical Associate Professor at University of South Dakota School of Medicine and authored multiple articles and publications related to antibiotic stewardship and other infectious disease-related topics.