Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Sanford Health and Robbinsdale, Minn.-based North Memorial Health said May 8 they have signed a definitive agreement to come together as a single nonprofit health system, the latest major healthcare combination involving a Minnesota organization.
Eight things to know:
1. The deal would see Sanford, the nation’s largest rural health system with 58 hospitals, combine with North Memorial, a two-hospital system with more than 22 clinics across the Twin Cities region, according to a joint news release.
2. Sanford and North Memorial said they plan to invest $600 million in Minnesota through the combined organization, including modernizing and sustaining North Memorial Health’s Robbinsdale Hospital and doubling the size of Maple Grove (Minn.) Hospital.
3. North Memorial Health would anchor a new care-delivery region for Sanford Health in the Twin Cities, according to the organizations. The region would include two medical centers, including one of five level 1 trauma centers in Minnesota; more than 22 clinics offering primary care and more than 45 specialties; 450 physicians and advanced practice providers; and 6,800 team members.
4. Sanford Health’s Bill Gassen would continue serving as president and CEO of the combined organization. The Twin Cities region would continue to be led by North Memorial Health CEO Trevor Sawallish.
5. The organizations said the combination would expand access to virtual care, behavioral health services, clinical trials and graduate medical education programs across Minnesota. In the news release, Mr. Sawallish said the organizations aligned around a long-term strategy focused on maintaining local access to care amid rising financial and regulatory pressures.
6. The announcement comes amid broader consolidation activity across the nonprofit healthcare sector, as systems pursue greater scale, regional reach and financial stability. In March, Sacramento, Calif.-based Sutter Health and Minneapolis-based Allina Health signed a letter of intent to create a combined 39-hospital system with approximately $26 billion in revenue. Sanford previously pursued combinations with Minneapolis-based Fairview Health Services in 2013 and 2022, according to The Minnesota Star Tribune.
7. In statements shared with Becker’s, SEIU Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa and the Minnesota Nurses Association raised concerns about the proposed combination’s potential effects on healthcare costs, staffing levels, labor protections and access to care. MNA also called on Sanford Health and North Memorial Health to provide “clear, enforceable commitments” protecting union contracts and bargaining rights before moving forward with the transaction. Both unions urged Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to closely review the deal.
8. The health systems expect the partnership to close sometime this year, subject to completion of regulatory processes and other customary closing conditions.
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