
January 20, 2025
MARSHFIELD – Sanford Health – the largest rural health system in the U.S., headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota – and Marshfield Clinic Health System have completed their merger and are now one nonprofit integrated health system operating as Sanford Health.
Bill Gassen, president and CEO of Sanford Health, said the merger “paves the way for us to advance world-class care across the rural Midwest and accelerate vital investments in the communities we have the privilege of serving.”
“Together, we will reimagine the future of local, patient-centered nonprofit health care by expanding services, enhancing access and harnessing innovative technologies to improve the health of our communities,” Glassen said. “We are thrilled to welcome 13,000 new employees from Marshfield Clinic Health System to our Sanford family and look forward to embracing all of the new possibilities that lie ahead.”
The Marshfield Clinic region, he said, is a new health services delivery region of Sanford Health that will continue to serve communities in Wisconsin and Michigan’s upper peninsula.
Brian Hoerneman, who previously served as interim CEO of Marshfield Clinic Health System, has now transitioned to the role of president and CEO of the Marshfield Clinic region of Sanford Health.
Hoerneman said each organization’s respective health plans, Sanford Health Plan and Security Health Plan, will continue current operations under a common management reporting and governance structure.
“Our partnership brings together two organizations deeply committed to advancing health care for the people and communities we serve in rural America,” he said.
Hoerneman said the combined system will serve patients and communities across the upper Midwest, including South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wyoming, Iowa, Wisconsin and the upper peninsula of Michigan.
The organization, he said, includes nearly 56,000 employees, 56 hospitals, 4,500 providers, two fully integrated health plans, specialty pharmacies and nationally recognized research institutions.
Sanford Health Plan and Security Health Plan will serve more than 425,000 members, Hoerneman said, led by Tommy Ibrahim – executive vice president and president and CEO of Sanford Health Plan – and Krista Hoglund, regional president and CEO of Security Health Plan.
Like all of Sanford Health’s regions, Hoerneman said, the new Marshfield Clinic region has a Physician Executive Council, with three of its members serving on the system’s Council of Governors (COG):
- Jay Vedre
- Kent Ray
- Matt Thomas
He also said three Marshfield Clinic Health System Board members have now joined the Sanford Health Board of Trustees:
- George Brown
- Thomas Wenzel
- Maureen McCausland
Hoerneman said the Marshfield brand will continue to be predominant within the Marshfield Clinic region as an integration process is underway to create a unified organization.
Patients will continue to receive care from the same providers at the same locations, he said, with no immediate changes.