Sanford Health has formed a strategic alliance with Benefis Health System to collaborate on clinical initiatives, physician recruitment and services, information technology, quality programs, research potentials and cost reduction.
Benefis is based in Great Falls, Mont.
With more than 2,800 employees and 500 volunteers, it serves a 15-county area in rural Montana.
Sanford Health is based out of Sioux Falls, S.D., and operates 39 hospitals and 140 clinics in 126 communities in nine states. It also has a large footprint across North Dakota and Minnesota, including a clinic in East Grand Forks.
With more than 26,000 employees, Sanford Health is the largest employer in North Dakota and South Dakota, it said in a news release.
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The strategic alliance does not affect the governance or financial structure of either organization.
"Sanford Health, like Benefis, is a not-for-profit healthcare system serving a large rural area," said Benefis CEO John Goodnow. "The cultures of both organizations are similar and we have many shared values, goals and challenges."
Kelby Krabbenhoft, CEO of Sanford Health, said dynamic forces surrounding the healthcare industry "make alliances like this more important than ever."
"Montana's geographic location is contiguous to Sanford's, they are next door to the Dakota's making Benefis a logical partner," Krabbenhoft added.
