Sanford Health is a non-profit

Non-profit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

, integrated health care delivery system

Health care system

A health care system is the organization of people, institutions, and resources to deliver health care services to meet the health needs of target populations....

, with its headquarters based in Sioux Falls

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Sioux Falls is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Dakota. Sioux Falls is the county seat of Minnehaha County, and also extends into Lincoln County to the south...

, South Dakota

South Dakota

South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...

 with additional offices in Fargo

Fargo, North Dakota

Fargo is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Cass County. In 2010, its population was 105,549, and it had an estimated metropolitan population of 208,777...

, North Dakota

North Dakota

North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....

. It was formed on with the merger of Sanford Health, based out of Sioux Falls and MeritCare Health System, based out of Fargo. It is composed of hospital

Hospital

A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....

s, clinic

Clinic

A clinic is a health care facility that is primarily devoted to the care of outpatients...

s, long-term care

Long-term care

Long-term care is a variety of services which help meet both the medical and non-medical need of people with a chronic illness or disability who cannot care for themselves for long periods of time....

, managed care

Managed care

...intended to reduce unnecessary health care costs through a variety of mechanisms, including: economic incentives for physicians and patients to select less costly forms of care; programs for reviewing the medical necessity of specific services; increased beneficiary cost sharing; controls on...

, licensed practitioners, a health plan

Health insurance

Health insurance is insurance against the risk of incurring medical expenses among individuals. By estimating the overall risk of health care expenses among a targeted group, an insurer can develop a routine finance structure, such as a monthly premium or payroll tax, to ensure that money is...

, a foundation

Foundation (United States law)

A foundation in the United States is a type of charitable organization. However, the Internal Revenue Code distinguishes between private foundations and public charities...

, a clinical research

Research

Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...

 center and seven basic research centers. Its geographical reach covers over 60000 square miles (155,399.3 km²) in Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

, Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

, Nebraska

Nebraska

Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

, North Dakota, Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

, and South Dakota.

History

In 1996 the Sioux Valley Health Care System was established with the Sioux Valley Hospital in Sioux Falls as its centerpiece. On , its name was changed to Sanford Health to commemorate a $400 million gift from businessman and philanthropist T. Denny Sanford

T. Denny Sanford

Thomas Denny Sanford is a South Dakota businessman and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of United National Corp.-Business ventures:...

. Then on Sanford merged with MeritCare to form the current health system, Sanford Health.

Sanford Health

Sanford Health is originally the southern region of the overall health system, based out of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The southern region includes over 350 physician

Physician

A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...

s at over 150 facilities across South Dakota and the surrounding states. Sanford Health's organizational structure consists of two compartments: the Health Services compartment, which includes all areas of patient care operations; and the Development and Research compartment, which includes all non-patient care activities. The system is presently composed of five divisions: Sanford USD Medical Center

Sanford USD Medical Center

Sanford USD Medical Center is a hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA. It is operated by Sanford Health.With nearly 500 beds, Sanford University of South Dakota Medical Center is the second largest tertiary hospital in South Dakota behind Avera McKennan Hospital, serving as one the primary...

, the region's largest tertiary medical center and the system's flagship medical center; Sanford Clinic, a multi-specialty group of over 350 physicians; Sanford Health Plan, a non-traditional, non-gatekeeper HMO

Health maintenance organization

A health maintenance organization is an organization that provides managed care for health insurance contracts in the United States as a liaison with health care providers...

 and the second largest health care payer in South Dakota; Sanford Health Foundation, the system's fundraising arm; and Sanford Health Network, which includes all regional hospitals, clinics, long-term care and congregate facilities, assisted-living facilities, home health providers, and home medical equipment entities in the states of South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska.

MeritCare

MeritCare was the northern region of the overall health system before it was renamed to Sanford Health. It was the largest healthcare provider in the state of North Dakota. The former MeritCare's service area spans 250 miles west to east; from Jamestown, North Dakota

Jamestown, North Dakota

As of the census of 2000, there were 15,527 people, 6,505 households, and 3,798 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,246.7 per square mile . There were 6,970 housing units at an average density of 559.6 per square mile...

 to Bemidji, Minnesota

Bemidji, Minnesota

Bemidji is a city in Beltrami County, Minnesota, United States. Its population was at 13,431 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Beltrami County. Bemidji is the most major city in North Central Minnesota and the largest commercial center between Grand Forks, North Dakota and Duluth,...

, and is known for regional excellence in a number of medical specialties offered at Roger Maris Cancer Center

Roger Maris

Roger Eugene Maris was an American Major League Baseball right fielder. During the 1961 season, he hit a record 61 home runs for the New York Yankees, breaking Babe Ruth's single-season record of 60 home runs...

, Heart Center and Children’s Hospital. MeritCare’s Heart Center has been named a 100 Top Heart Hospital nine times, one of only five in the nation to receive this distinction.

Sanford Health offers two Fargo hospitals that include a total of 583 beds, 20 Fargo-Moorhead and West Fargo locations and nearly 30 satellite clinics spanning eastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota. Sanford Health has been designated as a "Level II" trauma center.

Official Name Change

The simplification of the name from Sanford Health-MeritCare to Sanford Health became official at at ceremony in Fargo, ND on July 20, 2010. Currently, the company maintains corporate offices in both Fargo and Sioux Falls.

Centers of Excellence

Sanford Health’s Centers of Excellence were formed to provide comprehensive medical care focused on diagnostics, screenings, treatment, primary care, preventative care, education, and hospital care for their respective specialties. Each center has teams of specialists and medical providers who provide patient-centered care with an emphasis on providing full services in one location.

Sanford Women’s

Sanford Women’s offers health screenings, diagnostics, OB/GYN, heart, cancer, lifestyle, osteoporosis care, robotic surgery, fertility, maternal-fetal medicine, as well as healthy lifestyle education, classes, and support services. Sanford Women’s offers care at more than 156 locations by more than 600 providers. Sanford Women’s Health Research Center in Sioux Falls supports Sanford Women’s with specific focus on diseases that affect women’s health.