2nd Quarter 2010 ACCRA Report.pdf

For additional information, please contact Lisa Gulland-Nelson at 701.364.1900 or lgnelson@gfmedc.com

In other news, Sanford Health plans to build a new center, which will be dedicated to helping athletes boost their performance. The center will be modeled on one built two years ago in Sioux Falls that cost $2.5 million but will be tailored to athletic needs in the Fargo-Moorhead market. The performance center will work with athletes of all skill levels. Programs will include speed strength, weight training and agility training.

 Economic Indicators July 2010.pdf

For additional information, please contact Tifanie Gelinske at 701.364.1900 or tgelinske@gfmedc.com.

The area’s biggest name in health care just got smaller as Sanford Health & MeritCare simplified its name to Sanford Health.

The name change, celebrated Tuesday, is intended to help unify an organization with $2.25 billion in annual revenues and 20,000 employees serving parts of five states.

The health system’s namesake benefactor, Denny Sanford, was on hand for the occasion, which introduced a new sign at the former MeritCare Medical Center in Fargo, with blue replacing magenta as the signature color.

“This is an honor, truly,” Sanford said in remarks that recalled his younger days working for two summers on a railroad signal crew in North Dakota.

Sanford, who donated $400 million in 2007 to what was the Sioux Valley Health System based in Sioux Falls, S.D., said last November’s merger of the two health systems has produced a single organization with a national reputation and a global reach.

“Combination of these two organizations I look at as one plus one equals at least three,” he told a crowd gathered on the north lawn of the downtown medical complex, now called Sanford Medical Center Fargo.

Recalling the day the merger was completed last fall, the wealthy businessman-turned-philanthropist said: “That was the proudest day of my life. Today I am doubly proud.”

Kelby Krabbenhoft, Sanford Health’s chief executive, dropped hints of big things to come.

In addition to the planned $300 million medical center near Interstate 94 in southwest Fargo and the recently announced fitness and performance athletics centers, more initiatives appear imminent:

- Sanford’s Roger Maris Cancer Center, which has outgrown its space, will become a name in cancer treatment beyond Fargo. The center is named after the late Roger Maris, a Fargo native and former New York Yankees homerun slugger.

“The almost legendary reputation of not only the man but the cancer center is very meaningful to this region,” Krabbenhoft said. He added: “Mr. Sanford has ideas about cancer and the potential of something new that we’re working on behind the scenes.”

- Sanford will strengthen ties with the University of North Dakota, among academic partnerships that also will include North Dakota State University and Concordia College.

In Sioux Falls, the Sanford/USD Medical Center has a partnership with the University of South Dakota School of Medicine.

Later, Dennis Millirons, president of Sanford Medical Center Fargo, issued a statement about developing a “shared vision for the future” with UND, noting it already includes 32 residents and 28 medical students in the center’s teaching programs.

“That vision will be based on traditions, and include investments that will enhance the mission of the university, and our relationship,” Millirons said.

- A partnership with Orthopaedic Associates appears to be nearing agreement, but any announcement would come from Orthopaedic Associates. A merger would create a group of about 50 orthopedic surgeons.

Sanford expects to spend $3 million changing signs over the next two years. Since the merger, the health system has added 500 employees.

Dr. Roger Gilbertson, the retired chief executive of MeritCare before the merger, attended Tuesday’s festivities. Gilbertson had been instrumental in the merger in the 1990s of St. Luke’s Hospitals and Fargo Clinic, which resulted in the formation of MeritCare Health System.

“I think the name change is a critical thing for any two organizations coming together,” he said. “I think the Sanford name is appropriate.”

 By: Patrick Springer, INFORUM

After months of discussion and community input, West Fargo’s chamber of commerce will officially join the Fargo-Moorhead chamber on Sept. 1.

Both chambers offered their members a chance to vote recently on whether the merger should take place.

The results showed 98 percent of ballots cast in Fargo-Moorhead were in favor of the merger, as were 72 percent of ballots cast in West Fargo, Fargo-Moorhead Chamber President and CEO Craig Whitney said Wednesday.

The chambers would only release the vote percentages, not the specific vote results, Whitney said.

The combined chamber will have about 2,000 members, since 176 businesses currently are members of both the West Fargo and Fargo-Moorhead chambers.

A unified chamber – under the temporary name of the “Fargo-Moorhead-West Fargo Chamber of Commerce” – means stronger regional representation for area businesses, but it also means West Fargo’s chamber businesses face some changes under the new arrangement.

West Fargo has historically maintained an independent spirit, with a strong emphasis on having its own identity within the Red River Valley region – and that’s a point that played heavily in community discussions about the merger.

“The independent theme of West Fargo rang very true in some of the comments from some of our membership, but everybody still understands that this is the Red River Valley,” said Bernie Dardis, board treasurer of the West Fargo chamber and a Fargo business owner. “It’s about what’s best for the people – what’s best for our communities, what’s best for our memberships.”

Although some staple events of the West Fargo chamber – such as West Fest – will no longer be sponsored by the combined chamber after 2010, officials said West Fargo’s identity won’t be lost.

“They’ll still have their own identity to a point, but we’re going to be a unified region,” The West Fargo chamber’s board chairwoman Kathy Lewin said, adding that after 2010, West Fest likely will be sponsored by another organization within the city.

Meanwhile, annual dues also will change once the chambers merge – and at least for members of only the West Fargo chamber, that will mean higher costs.

“Their dues structure was slightly lower than ours in some cases, and they will over a couple of years be phased in to our dues level,” Whitney said, adding that the chamber will also talk in early 2011 about updating the Fargo-Moorhead chamber’s existing dues structure for its members.

The chambers wouldn’t release specific numbers on how much they charge for dues.

Meanwhile, the Fargo-Moorhead chamber’s board of directors will be expanded from 12 to 16 members after Sept. 1 to include representation of four West Fargo chamber members.

When Whitney was asked how the chamber would address the 28 percent of West Fargo chamber members that opposed the merger, he replied: “Well, I think 72 percent is very overwhelming.”

“It’s very clear that the members and the members of the business community here thought that this was the right thing to do,” he said. “And, moving forward, it really is what is best for the region.”

 By: Kristen Daum, INFORUM

When Sanford Health of Sioux Falls, S.D., and MeritCare of Fargo began flirting with a merger, not everyone in Fargo was pleased. There was an organized effort – led by respected community leaders – to scuttle the plan. Legitimate fears arose that a merged organization would be dominated by the South Dakota health system at the expense of the identity and local focus of the North Dakota health care center.

That was then. This week it can be argued that the identity concern had some merit, although not much. The MeritCare name has been retired. The new regional system will be Sanford Health, with the downtown Fargo campus of MeritCare dubbed Sanford Medical Center Fargo. The maroon-on-white MeritCare logo is being replaced by Sanford’s name in white on a field of blue.

What’s in a name? It depends on one’s perspective. Frankly, there are people in the Fargo-Moorhead region who are still in a snit over the change from St. Luke’s to MeritCare. Never will get over it. But with the change to Sanford Health, it appears good things will happen in a relatively short time.

Sanford’s executives made promises and commitments during merger talks. If some of the rhetoric came off like carrots to appease merger opponents, the follow-up post-merger is adding substance to promises. For example:

• Look for expansion of Sanford’s Roger Maris Cancer Center in Fargo, with the aim of the center becoming a name in cancer treatment far beyond Fargo by virtue of its good work and identity with the baseball great.
• Ties with the University of North Dakota, North Dakota State University and Concordia College will be strengthened for expanded partnerships in medical education.
• A merger with world-class Orthopaedic Associates of Fargo could be announced soon.
• A $300 million medical center off Interstate 94 in southwest Fargo is in the planning stages.
• A fitness and athletic performance center in the Urban Plains development was announced a few weeks ago.

Many of the projects and proposals are initiatives made possible because a bigger, financially secure Sanford Health, merged with MeritCare, can swing such huge investments. One result will be a comprehensive regional health center of national significance that serves patients in parts of five states.

Sanford Health is off to a good start in Fargo, having completed the merger in record time. And even those who had doubts about the merger should be heartened by the unequivocal restatement of commitment to patient care, medical education and facilities expansion.

 Economic Indicators June 2010.pdf

For additional information, please contact Tifanie Gelinske at 701.364.1900 or tgelinske@gfmedc.com.

By: Patrick Springer, INFORUM

 The Sanford “power bubble” is a 21,000-square-foot facility near the football stadium for the University of Sioux Falls in South Dakota. Special to The Forum

Sanford Health-MeritCare plans to build a new center in southwest Fargo dedicated to helping athletes boost their performance.

The center will be modeled on one built two years ago in Sioux Falls, S.D., that cost $2.5 million but will be tailored to athletic needs in the Fargo-Moorhead market, a Sanford Health-MeritCare executive said.

“We’ll customize that facility to what the needs are,” said Kevin Lampe, a Sanford Health-MeritCare vice president who oversees its orthopedic and sports medicine programs.

In a related matter, Sanford expects soon to have an agreement to provide sports medicine services for the North Dakota State University Bison, perhaps as early as this week.

Gene Taylor, NDSU’s athletic director, was traveling Friday afternoon and couldn’t be reached for comment on the talks or what the planned performance enhancement center could mean for Bison athletics.

Innovis Health has long provided team doctors and trainers for the Bison but recently announced that it would not provide those services after Wednesday in light of discussions taking place between NDSU and Sanford-MeritCare.

Through a spokeswoman, Innovis declined comment Friday on Sanford-MeritCare’s latest plans to expand its sports medicine and orthopedics services.

Demand for sports medicine services is strong in the area, given the multitude of teams fielded by NDSU, Minnesota State University Moorhead, Concordia College, and many high school programs, in addition to the area’s many serious amateur athletes, Lampe said.

The performance center will work with athletes of all skill levels. Programs will include speed strength, weight training and agility training.

Sanford Health-MeritCare is striving to develop an orthopedics and sports medicine program with a reputation that will attract athletes from around the country, he said.

Sanford’s National Institute for Athletic Health & Performance opened two years ago. It’s directed by Dr. Michael Bergeron, who is known for his research in exercise, heat stress and athletic health.

Research, in fact, will be an important part of the work done by the performance center, with athletes sometimes serving as research subjects.

Sanford Health-MeritCare – which will drop MeritCare from its name in July – plans to have a medical residency program in orthopedics in 10 or 12 years to help attract physicians specializing in orthopedics and sports medicine, Lampe said.

“You need to build the research base” to attract top specialists in the fields of orthopedics and sports medicine, he said.

Discussions between Sanford Health-MeritCare and Orthopaedic Associates, which are exploring a possible partnership, continue, Lampe said.

The performance athletics center is separate from the recently announced $12 million fitness and wellness center Sanford will build in partnership with the YMCA but also will be located at the Urban Plains development in southwest Fargo.

The new performance center got final approval last week from the health system’s local trustees and will proceed in the new fiscal year, which starts Thursday.

The exterior of the building likely will resemble the “power bubble” look of its Sioux Falls counterpart, a 21,000-square-foot facility near the football stadium for the University of Sioux Falls, although no designs have been drawn, Lampe said.

Details are being worked out in consultation with local athletic officials, but the facility’s activity areas will include artificial football turf, track lanes and a wooden basketball court floor for athletes to train on.

“I’d anticipate there’d be some hockey support we’d put in that facility,” Lampe said, noting the popularity of hockey in the Fargo-Moorhead region.

Sanford Health-MeritCare is not involved in talks for a possible indoor aquatics center or other community athletic facility, such as a soccer complex, but is interested in exploring partnerships, Lampe said.

“Our history is one of working with community groups,” he said, noting as an example that Sanford donated land in Sioux Falls for a junior football facility now under construction and has a sponsorship supporting youth soccer in that city.