News

April 26, 2023 | TwinCities.com Pioneer Press | Dan Frechette

Dan Frechette: Sanford/Fairview merger is the partnership, innovation needed to reinvent health care

The American health care system is in disrepair. Even in Minnesota, where we have come to expect the best doctors, treatments and research in the world, health care is facing some of the most serious challenges I’ve seen in my career.
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March 21, 2023 | Inforum | Dr. James Breitenbucher

Letter: Making a case for the Fairview/Sanford merger

As a physician and patient with direct experience with Fairview, Sanford Health and the University of Minnesota, I feel compelled to comment on the proposed merger.
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March 17, 2023 | Star Tribune | Natalie Schaefer

Readers Write: Hospitals’ math isn’t working

There is a simple math problem with health care finance that has not been mentioned in the discussion of the Fairview merger with Sanford vs. the University of Minnesota Medical School and the well-written letter on March 12 (“The root cause of trouble”) and commentary on March 13 (“Health care ailment spreads far beyond hospitals”).
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March 5, 2023 | Star Tribune | Jim Hart

Readers Write: High hopes for this combination

If you’ve been following the public debate over the potential merger between Fairview Health Services and Sanford Health, you may have concluded by now that it’s a bad idea. You might be wrong. Thirty years ago, I was in the middle of a significant health care merger in the Twin Cities that has turned out to be extremely successful, for both patients and employees.
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February 19, 2023 | Star Tribune | Peter H. Kelly

Editorial counterpoint: What’s really at stake with the Fairview/Sanford merger

Recently I read with concern a Star Tribune editorial that questioned the need for a combined system between Fairview Health Services and Sanford Health (“Medical merger isn’t just another deal,” Feb. 7). I’ve been a surgeon for 38 years and have dedicated my career to caring for patients in the east metro. The proposed merger between Fairview Health Services and Sanford Health is as personal to me as it is my patients and my colleagues who are at the center of the debate over what is best for Minnesota.
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January 8, 2023 | Star Tribune | Bill Gassen and James Hereford

Merger will strengthen health care for Minnesotans

As the leaders of two major health care organizations in the Midwest — Fairview Health Services and Sanford Health — we know our role in shaping the future of health care for the millions of people we serve is a profound responsibility and privilege. The past few years have tested our nation’s health care systems as never before. We must seek new, better ways to care for our patients while delivering on the promise of more affordable, accessible and equitable care.
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December 28, 2022 | Star Tribune | David Wilcox

Fairview and Sanford: Merger would mean better care for Minnesotans

As the leaders of two major health care organizations in the Midwest — Fairview Health Services and Sanford Health — we know our role in shaping the future of health care for the millions of people we serve is a profound responsibility and privilege. The past few years have tested our nation’s health care systems as never before. We must seek new, better ways to care for our patients while delivering on the promise of more affordable, accessible and equitable care.
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December 27, 2022 | Star Tribune | Anders Peterson

Readers Write: A way to sustain the med school

The Dec. 23 commentary “Proposed Sanford-Fairview merger warrants skepticism” raised concerns the merger might not translate to benefit Minnesotans, but didn’t consider adequately the University of Minnesota mission of medical education that produced 70% of the doctors in Minnesota. The U medical school is again facing a financial threat that raises significant concerns. A Sanford-M Health merger is certainly an opportunity to sustain a multifaceted medical education mission that has benefited the entire state of Minnesota since 1888.
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December 16, 2022 | Star Tribune | Lee Newcomer

Readers Write: Health merger

The Wednesday commentary written by three union leaders was passionate, but not very helpful (“Merger would put profits ahead of health,” Opinion Exchange). Sanford Health and M Health Fairview are nonprofit institutions. They are required to channel surplus earnings back into the institution or the community.
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