South Dakota’s Sanford Health, recognized as the largest rural health system in the United States, has completed a significant merger with the Marshfield Clinic Health System based in Wisconsin. This merger marks a pivotal expansion for Sanford Health, headquartered in Sioux Falls, and significantly broadens its influence and capacity to deliver healthcare services across a vast rural expanse.
Sanford Health’s network now boasts an extensive outreach serving over 1.4 million patients and managing nearly 200,000 health plan members across 250,000 square miles. This enhances its integrated healthcare system that already includes 48 medical centers and over 200 clinics, alongside more than 160 Good Samaritan Society senior living centers.
Sanford Health
Sanford Health has been dedicated to a mission of providing ‘health, healing, and comfort,’ driven by its faith-based roots. With the addition of Marshfield Clinic Health System (MCHS), this mission extends, creating one of the most expansive rural health collaborations in the country.
Dr. Brian Hoerneman, newly appointed regional president and CEO of the Marshfield Clinic following the merger, stated, “I am excited about the opportunities ahead as our teams learn from each other and combine our complementary strengths, cultures, and missions.” This sentiment emphasizes the unified commitment to advance healthcare accessibility and quality in rural America.
This strategic merger holds significant importance for South Dakota, especially Sioux Falls where Sanford Health is based. Sioux Falls stands as a thriving urban hub surrounded by rural areas, epitomizing challenges and opportunities in delivering premier healthcare services in such environments. The city itself is renowned for its progressive healthcare sector, economic vitality, and community involvement, reflecting the essence of Sanford’s values.
- Sanford Health employs around 42,775 individuals, including 2,931 physicians and advanced practice providers, ensuring a robust workforce ready to address diverse healthcare needs.
- Yearly, they undertake 5.8 million outpatient and clinic visits and conduct over 143,000 surgeries and procedures, highlighting their significant operational scale.
- Centers of Excellence under Sanford include specialized units for Cancer, Children’s Health, Heart, Orthopedics, Sports Medicine, and Women’s Health.
The integration of MCHS adds substantial value to Sanford Health, both in scale and expertise. MCHS, a well-established system since 1916, employs over 12,000 individuals. With primary operations across 11 hospitals and various specialized institutes, including the Marshfield Clinic Research Institute and Security Health Plan, this Wisconsin health system brings a wealth of resources to the partnership.
The Marshfield Clinic also offers educational opportunities for over 900 students annually through residency programs and fellowships, fostering the next generation of healthcare professionals.
A notable aspect of Sanford Health locations is the presence of blue lights, serving as a ‘beacon of hope’ to symbolize healing, a message that resonates deeply across their expanded territories, including new regions now within reach following the merger.
This merger is not only a reflection of the growing trend of consolidation in healthcare but also an assurance of continuing excellent care, as expressed by Marshfield’s Mayor Lois TeStrake. “We’re going to keep what we have, but they’re just going to help us to make it better,” TeStrake mentioned when discussing the merger’s impact on the community.
Such strategic alignments are particularly pertinent to South Dakota, where geography often challenges healthcare delivery. With Sanford Health’s enhanced reach, more patients across the Dakotas, Iowa, Minnesota, and beyond will benefit from an integrated approach to rural healthcare delivery, effectively addressing both accessibility and quality concerns.
This expansion is also set against the backdrop of Wisconsin’s healthcare landscape, which has seen numerous health system mergers aligning with national trends of rapid consolidation. Such moves aim to leverage scale, shared knowledge, and resources, although researchers note these mergers can lead to increased healthcare prices with minimal effects on patient care.
As collaborative efforts between Marshfield Clinic and Sanford Health unfold, their united strength promises to bolster healthcare infrastructure, providing durable solutions that resonate with Sanford’s commitment to fostering health, healing, and comfort across communities they serve.