Under Mr. Ust’s leadership as CEO, Sanford Thief River Falls Medical Center has been recognized as one of the top 100 critical access hospitals by The Chartis Center for Rural Health in both 2023 and 2024. In his role, Mr. Ust is responsible for overseeing all hospital and clinic services. After several local providers retired and others removed obstetrical services from their practice, Mr. Ust helped prevent a maternity care desert from forming by hiring locum providers to support the remaining physicians. He worked to stabilize and expand the service using creative ways to recruit and retain new providers who deliver babies. As a result, the number of babies born at Sanford Thief River Falls increased by more than 10% in 2023. Mr. Ust began his career with Sanford in 2014 and served as the Sanford Thief River Falls clinic director prior to becoming the medical center’s CEO.
