North Memorial, Sanford Health merger: Minnesota attorney general agreement
Robbinsdale Hospital near Minneapolis. (Photo by North Memorial Health) (North Memorial Health / Supplied)
ROBBINSDALE, Minn. (FOX 9) - Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has approved a 10-year oversight agreement with Sanford Health and North Memorial Health, giving their merger the green light to become the largest urban-rural health system in Minnesota.
The attorney general previously sought community feedback on the proposed merger between North Memorial and Sanford Health.
READ MORE: Sanford Health, North Memorial Health agree to combine
North Memorial and Sanford Health merger
Why you should care:
The agreement, now signed, allows the merger between Sanford Health and North Memorial Health to move forward. Together, the two systems will form what Ellison described as the largest and first-ever integrated urban-rural health system in Minnesota.
Ellison said his office will hold regular meetings and receive reports from the combined Sanford-North Memorial health system to ensure the agreement continues to work in the best interests of Minnesotans throughout the decade.
By the numbers:
AG Ellison said the new health system will invest $600 million in Minnesota, with plans to expand Maple Grove Hospital and make upgrades to Robbinsdale Hospital. Sanford has also agreed to keep an office in Minnesota, recruit from Minnesota institutions and build stronger partnerships with community-based organizations and health care stakeholders across the state.
On top of the oversight agreement commitments, Sanford will invest $15 million in a new initiative dedicated to supporting small and independent rural health care providers in Minnesota. Ellison noted the investment comes at a time when federal cuts to health care reimbursement are being especially felt in Greater Minnesota communities, where Sanford already operates hospitals, clinics and other services across the western third of the state.
What they're saying:
"Too often, health care mergers mean reduced services and shuttered clinics," AG Ellison said. "But at the heart of this agreement is a ten-year commitment to not reduce services offered and to maintain services Minnesotans rely on."
The attorney general also said all North Memorial employees in good standing will be able to keep their jobs, their benefits and their union contracts under the terms of the agreement. The deal also protects reproductive and gender-affirming care services and mental health care at North Memorial, with an added commitment to explore ways to expand mental health and behavioral health services in communities that lack easy access to them.
The agreement, according to AG Ellison, also requires the combined health system to maintain its commitment to charity care, community benefit and financial assistance programs that serve uninsured and underserved communities, and to continue North Memorial's participation in Medicare and Medicaid.
AG Ellison said his office has the authority to review large health care transactions under a law passed in 2023, and that the commitments made by both health systems meet that standard.
The Source: This story uses information shared by the Minnesota attorney general and previous FOX 9 reporting.