Sanford Considers Expanding In Minot, Possibly With Hospital

MINOT, N.D. (AP) — Dakotas-based Sanford Health is considering expanding in Minot and possibly building a hospital there.

Sanford acquired a clinic in Minot when it bought Bismarck-based Medcenter One in 2012. The health system based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Fargo, North Dakota, now is looking to offer more services in Minot, and a decision on what that will entail is expected by the end of the year, CEO Kelby Krabbenhoft told the Minot Daily News ( ).

Trinity Health operates the only hospital in Minot. Trinity announced in June that it’s becoming part of Montana-based Billings Clinic RegionalCare — a partnership that will include a new medical campus. St. Alexius of Bismarck, part of Catholic Health Initiatives, operates a clinic in Minot.

“With Sanford, with CHI, and with Trinity all in Minot, I think it’s just a new day,” Krabbenhoft said. “We are all trying to feel out just what the best relationship is to each other and then, what are we supposed to be doing by ourselves.”

Sanford has taken a step toward expansion by obtaining an option on land in the same area as the site proposed for the Trinity hospital. Sanford also has had conversations with Billings Clinic about a potential partnership in regional care.

Much of that discussion has centered on Montana because of Sanford’s interest in expanding into that state. However, a partnership could open the door to collaboration in Minot.

“That’s a very big possibility, that we could be allies there,” Krabbenhoft said.

Sanford bills itself as one of the largest health systems in the nation, with dozens of hospitals and clinics in nine states and three countries. It employs 27,000 people, including 1,400 physicians.

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Information from: Minot Daily News,