Sanford Health Announces Merger With Twin Cities-Based North Memorial Health

Three years after a deal with Minnesota-based Fairview Health Services fell through, Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Sanford Health has announced a merger deal with Twin Cities-based North Memorial Health.

Sanford has has 55,000 employees and serves over 2 million patients and nearly 415,000 health plan members across the upper Midwest, including South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wyoming, Iowa, Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Sanford said North Memorial Health would become the anchor of a new care delivery region for the nonprofit health system in the Twin Cities. The region includes:
• Two medical centers, including one of five Level 1 trauma centers in the state of Minnesota
• Programs in areas such as birth, stroke and trauma care
• A care delivery network of more than 22 clinics offering primary care and more than 45 specialties
• 450 physicians and advanced practice providers and 6,800 employees.

The health systems said the proposed merger would allow them to modernize and sustain Level 1 trauma and emergency services at North Memorial Health – Robbinsdale Hospital, a critical safety-net hospital, where financial pressures threaten long-term sustainability.

They also plan to double the size of North Memorial Health – Maple Grove Hospital, growing Minnesota’s largest birth center, expanding emergency care and adding inpatient and surgical capacity, while improving access to cardiology and interventional radiology to support minimally invasive procedures. The combined system will also expand campus access to primary and specialty care for patients of all ages.

“We’ve been open about the financial and regulatory pressures and the rising costs that make it harder to protect access to care on our own," said Trevor Sawallish, CEO of North Memorial Health, in a statement. “Through a deliberate national search, Sanford stood out as a partner who understands our true value and shares our belief that better — not just bigger — is what matters. This partnership is about staying strong for the long term — so our patients can keep getting the care they need close to home and our teams have the support they deserve.”

Sawallish will continue to lead the Twin Cities region of Sanford Health, with a local board of directors representing the broader community to provide oversight, including medical staff matters.

Two North Memorial Health board members will transition to serve on the Sanford Health Board of Trustees, the governing body of the combined system.

The Minnesota Nurses Association issued a press release expressing concern about the announcement. “North Memorial Health leaders say the acquisition is necessary to address long-term financial and operational pressures. This announcement puts renewed scrutiny on the system’s priorities, long-term planning, and what this means for patients, workers, and public accountability moving forward,” the release said, adding that nearly 600 Maple Grove nurses are preparing to vote on whether to authorize a strike amid unresolved issues at the bargaining table over a first contract.