Sen. Tim Johnson and his wife, Barbara, will visit well-known South Dakota broadcaster Tony Dean this weekend in a Sioux Falls hospital, where Dean is recovering from complications after surgery.

"Barbara and I intend to go up to the hospital tomorrow," Johnson said Friday afternoon. "After all, he came to see me when I was in the hospital, and I appreciate that."

Dean, who lives in Pierre, is a North Dakota native who has worked in outdoors broadcasting in South Dakota for more than 30 years. He is host and producer of radio and television shows and writes a newspaper column for the Rapid City Journal.

Dean endorsed and campaigned for Johnson during the Democrat's 2002 re-election campaign against Republican challenger John Thune. Dean also paid a visit to Johnson in April of 2007 in a Washington, D.C., area hospital, while the senator was recovering from a brain hemorrhage that left him with impaired speech and mobility.