Community weighs in on proposed North Memorial-Sanford Health merger

The community had a chance to weigh in on the proposed merger that would combine North Memorial Health and Sanford Health. Leaders of the health systems also responded to questions at the meeting hosted by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s Office Tuesday. Plan to combine Twin Cities-based North Memorial Health and South Dakota-based Sanford Health signed a definitive agreement in May to combine. They plan to come together as a single non-profit health system. According to the proposal, North Memorial would be acquired by Sanford. The deal includes a $600 million investment in North Memorial. The Attorney General’s Office hosted this latest meeting in North Minneapolis at Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church. Ellison and his team are reviewing the deal to consider the public interest of the merger. The attorney general does not approve or deny the transaction but can bring lawsuits to potentially stop it if issues are flagged. Community members raised several questions and comments around potential impacts on the workforce and care. Local faith and labor leaders also shared their push to include a community benefits agreement (CBA) with protections for both workers and patients. "Our coalition is asking Sanford Health and North Memorial to negotiate an agreement that protects patients, strengthens communities, honors workers, and creates lasting accountability," said Wanda Malden, a Black Church Power Project leader with ISAIAH. North Memorial and Sanford Health CEOs also attended Tuesday night. They explained why and how they got here. "That opportunity is to not only to stabilize North Memorial, not only keep us around and doing the things we’ve done for this community for over 80 years, but it is also about making things better, doing things better, and serving the community in a way we can’t currently do alone," said Trevor Sawallish, CEO of North Memorial Health. The two leaders also responded to several questions and talked about their vision for the merger. Both CEOs confirmed the plan for the hospital in Robbinsdale is to remain a Level 1 trauma center. "The agreement provides two years. He knows because of the goal and the objective we’ve shared with his board, and our board is that I don’t want to just merely sustain Level 1 trauma status. The goal needs to be that we are pushing the envelope every day to make sure that we do more tomorrow than we are able to do today," said Bill Gassen, president and CEO of Sanford Health.