T. Denny Sanford, the longtime philanthropist and businessman whose donations transformed — and renamed — one of the nation’s largest rural health systems, died July 18 at age 90, according to his obituary. Over his lifetime, Mr. Sanford donated nearly $2 billion to Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Sanford Health and more than $4 billion to charitable causes overall.
Mr. Sanford’s relationship with Sanford Health began in 2004 and culminated in a landmark 2007 gift of $400 million, then the largest donation to a health system in U.S. history, which prompted Sioux Valley Hospitals and Health System to rename itself in his honor. Subsequent gifts funded the Edith Sanford Breast Center, Sanford Children’s Hospital, Sanford Imagenetics, a $350 million virtual care initiative and, most recently, a $300 million gift in 2025 to establish the Sanford Black Hills Medical Center in Rapid City, according to a Sanford Health news release.
“At the end of every gift is a patient,” Sanford Health President and CEO Bill Gassen said in the release.
Beyond healthcare, Mr. Sanford directed giving to education, research and the arts across the country, including gifts to Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego, Arizona State University and the Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota’s Black Hills. The Chronicle of Philanthropy named him one of the 50 most generous philanthropists.
Sanford Health has 55,000 employees and serves more than 2 million patients across the upper Midwest, according to its website.
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