Minnesota

COMMENTARY
Former Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton testifies at a Senate Health and Human Services Committee hearing on March 7, 2023. Fairview CEO James Hereford (left) and Sanford CEO Bill Gassen (second from left), also testified. (Michelle Griffith/Minnesota Reformer)

Death of Fairview-Sanford merger was right outcome for patients and communities

BY: - August 31, 2023

Editor’s note: The author is not the same person as Minnesota Rep. Pat Garofalo, R-Farmington.  Late last month, the Minnesota-based hospital system Fairview Health Services announced that it was pulling the plug on a proposed merger with South Dakota-based Sanford Health. This marked the second time these two health care systems had failed to consummate […]

University of Minnesota Medical Center. (Courtesy photo)

Bill that could doom Fairview-Sanford merger heads to Walz’s desk; Fairview, Sanford undeterred

BY: - May 22, 2023

The Minnesota Legislature on Sunday passed a bill that bans anti-competitive health care mergers, which could kill the proposed marriage of Minneapolis-based Fairview Health Services and Sioux Falls-based Sanford Health. The bill also prohibits out-of-state entities from owning in whole or part University of Minnesota health care entities, as would be the case were Sanford […]

University of Minnesota Medical Center. (Courtesy photo)

Legislation could doom Sanford-Fairview deal with ban on anti-competitive health care mergers

BY: - April 5, 2023

Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota are weighing a ban on anti-competitive health care mergers that could spell the end for the proposed merger between Minneapolis-based Fairview Health Services and Sioux Falls-based Sanford Health. The deal has sparked fierce resistance from Democratic lawmakers, rural residents and health care unions, who say it would create a health care […]

Former Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton testifies at a Senate Health and Human Services Committee hearing on March 7, 2023. Fairview CEO James Hereford (left) and Sanford CEO Bill Gassen (second from left), also testified. (Michelle Griffith/Minnesota Reformer)

Former Minnesota governors: Sanford should not control U of M hospital

BY: - March 8, 2023

Two former Minnesota governors on Tuesday expressed concerns to lawmakers about a potential merger between two already large health care systems — Fairview Health Services and Sanford Health. Former Govs. Tim Pawlenty, the last Minnesota Republican to win statewide office, and his DFL successor Mark Dayton, came together to urge lawmakers to prioritize Minnesotans’ interests […]

A screenshot of the new app that helps people learn the Dakota language.

New Dakota language app helps bridge gap between elders and youth

BY: - March 7, 2023

Khloe Cavanaugh learned some Dakota words from her grandfather growing up on the Spirit Lake Reservation in North Dakota. He was one of the few fluent first language speakers on the reservation. “I have an Indian name and I didn’t know how to say it in Dakota, so he taught me how to say it […]

Medical students and community members gather outside of a University of Minnesota building to protest a potential merger between Sanford and Fairview. (Grace Deng/Minnesota Reformer)

Medical students, community protest potential merger between Sanford and Fairview

BY: - February 7, 2023

MINNEAPOLIS — Medical students, health care workers and community members gathered outside a University of Minnesota building on Friday, braving a wind chill of minus 14 degrees to rally against a planned merger between Sanford Health and Fairview Health Services. “The values of Fairview and Sanford are very different from the University of Minnesota,” said […]

Fairview Health CEO James Hereford, left, and Sanford Health CEO Bill Gassen testified about the proposed Sanford-Fairview merger at the State Office Building in St. Paul on Jan. 30, 2023. (Michelle Griffith/Minnesota Reformer)

Minnesota lawmaker seeks authority over mergers in response to Sanford-Fairview plan

BY: - January 31, 2023

Minnesota House Democrats on Monday warned a merger between Fairview Health Services and Sanford Health could increase health care costs or lead to hospital and clinic closures. In November, Fairview and Sanford announced their intention to merge into one health care system run by Sanford’s current CEO Bill Gassen. The target date to complete the […]

Seagull Lake in the Boundary Waters. Superior National Forest is home to 20% of all fresh water in the entire national forest system. (Photo by Christina MacGillivray)

Public lands near Minnesota’s Boundary Waters withdrawn from federal mining leases

BY: - January 27, 2023

WASHINGTON — After more than a year of assessment and debate, the U.S. Department of the Interior on Thursday announced the withdrawal of more than 225,000 acres of public lands near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota from federal mine leasing programs.  Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland signed Public Land Order 7917, […]