Sanford Health and North Memorial Health to merge following successful regulatory approval

Sanford Health and North Memorial Health announced that they have finalized their partnership and are now one nonprofit integrated health system operating as Sanford Health.

The combined organization will “preserve” North Memorial Health’s Robbinsdale Hospital and “its essential role as a Level I Trauma Center while making significant investments that improve care, expand access and build a stronger rural-urban network across Minnesota,” stated Sanford Health in a press release.

“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,” stated Sanford Health President and CEO Bill Gassen,

Sanford Health states that the partnership “creates a first-of-its-kind, fully integrated health system in Minnesota, bringing together two nonprofit organizations with a shared commitment to locally driven care and a significant presence across rural and urban communities. The combined organization will deliver long-term investments and solutions that reflect the different needs of communities across the state…[T]he combined system creates new opportunities to collaborate across rural and urban Minnesota while helping keep care as close to home as possible.”

“North Memorial Health brings exceptional expertise in trauma care, emergency medicine and specialty services, while Sanford Health has decades of experience expanding access through primary care, virtual care and integrated behavioral health,” added Mr. Gassen. ”By bringing our clinicians together and sharing expertise, we’ll advance new models of care that neither organization could achieve alone.”

After regulatory review led by the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, Sanford Health states that it “formalized commitments that reflect the needs and priorities of patients, employees and communities, while supporting long-term investment across Minnesota,” including:

• “Maintaining core services at Robbinsdale Hospital for 10 years to preserve its critical role as a Level I Trauma Center and safety-net hospital, including emergency, cardiac and catheterization lab, labor and delivery, intensive care, stroke, acute rehabilitation and mental health services.”
• “Investing approximately $100 million to strengthen and modernize Robbinsdale Hospital, addressing deferred maintenance needs and facility and equipment upgrades while making the ongoing investments needed to sustain operations and preserve essential services for the long term.”
• Investing approximately $500 million to expand North Memorial Health’s Maple Grove Hospital “to meet increasing demand in one of the Twin Cities’ fastest-growing regions by expanding emergency, inpatient, surgical and specialty care capacity while supporting continued growth at Minnesota’s largest birth center.”
• “Maintaining and strengthening community benefit and financial assistance programs to help ensure patients can access medically necessary care regardless of their ability to pay, including proactively identifying patients who may qualify for financial assistance and connecting them with available coverage and support.”

Sanford Health states that the combined organization includes “61,000 employees, and serves approximately 2.5 million patients and nearly 415,000 health plan members across the upper Midwest, with a network of 60 hospitals including three Level 1 trauma centers, 310 clinic locations, 60 pharmacy and retail chain locations, 145 senior care communities, 4,950 physicians and advanced practice providers and 1,100 active clinical trials and studies.”

“An integration process is underway to create a unified organization,” states Sanford Health. “Patients will continue to receive care from the same trusted providers at the same locations, with no immediate changes.”