Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Sanford Health has finalized its partnership with Robbinsdale, Minn.-based North Memorial Health, creating a 60-hospital nonprofit health system with plans to invest more than $600 million across Minnesota.
North Memorial is now part of Sanford Health and will serve as the anchor of a new Twin Cities care delivery region, according to a Sept. 1 news release. North Memorial CEO Trevor Sawallish will lead the region alongside his leadership team and a local board of directors.
The transaction expands Sanford from 58 to 60 hospitals and brings its workforce to about 61,000 employees. The combined system serves about 2.5 million patients and nearly 415,000 health plan members across the upper Midwest. It also includes 310 clinic locations, 145 senior care communities and 4,950 physicians and advanced practice providers.
“By bringing together North Memorial Health’s deep roots in the communities it serves with Sanford Health’s capabilities as an integrated health system, we’ll strengthen and modernize Robbinsdale Hospital while building a more connected healthcare system that better serves patients across rural and urban Minnesota,” Mr. Gassen said.
As part of commitments made following review by the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, Sanford plans to invest about $100 million in Robbinsdale Hospital to address deferred maintenance, upgrade facilities and equipment and support ongoing operations.
Sanford also committed to maintaining core services at Robbinsdale Hospital for 10 years, including emergency, cardiac and catheterization lab, labor and delivery, intensive care, stroke, acute rehabilitation and mental health services. The hospital will continue operating as a Level I trauma center and safety-net hospital.
Another approximately $500 million will go toward expanding Maple Grove (Minn.) Hospital, including emergency, inpatient, surgical and specialty care capacity. The investment will also support growth at what Sanford described as Minnesota’s largest birth center.
The system also plans to expand behavioral health services, invest in graduate medical education and workforce training and maintain financial assistance programs.
Mr. Sawallish said the transaction marks “the beginning of our next chapter” for North Memorial.
“Our focus is on turning commitments into action — protecting the care our communities rely on, supporting the people who deliver it every day and making meaningful investments that will allow us to serve Minnesotans for generations to come,” he said.
Sanford said the combination will also connect North Memorial’s trauma, emergency medicine and medical transportation capabilities with Sanford’s rural footprint and AirMed program, with the goal of strengthening emergency and specialty care access across Minnesota.
Two North Memorial board members will join the Sanford Health Board of Trustees: Charlie Weaver, former executive director of the Minnesota Business Partnership, and Ramon Pastrano, DMin, an organizational leadership consultant, entrepreneur and U.S. Navy veteran.
Sanford said patients will continue to see the same providers at the same locations, with no immediate changes to care.
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