North Dakota
North Memorial and South Dakota-based Sanford Health merging
Three years after a deal with Fairview was called off, South Dakota-based Sanford Health is getting into the Twin Cities market with a new merger.
On Friday, the health system announced that it will combine with North Memorial Health.
Fairview, Sanford call off planned merger
Under the merger, Sanford says the organization will invest $600 million to strengthen the Robbinsdale hospital and double the Maple Grove hospital’s size.
Sanford is the largest rural nonprofit health system in the country, with 58 hospitals and roughly 56,000 employees across the Dakotas, Iowa, Wisconsin, Wyoming and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. North Memorial operates two hospitals in Robbinsdale and Maple Grove, along with several other clinics, employing more than 6,500 people.
If completed, the health systems plan to keep some local leadership in place, including North Memorial CEO Trevor Sawallish, and two North Memorial board members will serve on the combined system’s board. However, the overall company will be led by Sanford CEO Bill Gassen.
The companies say they expect the merger to close later this year, as long as regulatory processes don’t cause delays.
Sanford’s previous attempt to merge with Fairview was called off in 2023, eight months after initially announcing the planned merger. Many Minnesotans raised concerns about that transaction, including Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, although some of that was due to the University of Minnesota’s partnership with Fairview and the possibility of an out-of-state company running the state’s flagship medical school.
As with most mergers, concerns are still likely to arise about possible cutbacks and the impact on the state’s healthcare quality. However, the deal seems more likely to be completed than Sanford’s past attempts.
Reaction
SEIU Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa, who represents over 1,000 workers at North Memorial, called the news “worrisome.”
“At a time when healthcare costs are skyrocketing for Minnesota families and frontline healthcare workers are getting squeezed by short staffing levels, this latest attempt at consolidation brings many concerns. It is especially concerning because previous merger attempts by Sanford Health to come into Minnesota have failed due to their values and corporate behavior,” the union said.
SEIU also called on Ellison “to use all of his office’s powers within the law to provide oversight into this proposed merger and ensure the interests of Minnesota’s workers and patients are protected.”
Ellison’s office is asking the public to submit information through an online Community Input Form.
“As we have done and are currently doing with other healthcare transactions, we are conducting a thorough review of this potential acquisition to ensure it complies with the law and is in the public interest,” Ellison daid. “Proposed health care consolidation requires careful examination. As long as I am Attorney General, I will use the full range of regulatory tools to protect Minnesotans’ access to quality, affordable healthcare.”
The Minnesota Nurses Association released a statement saying it is “deeply concerned” by the merger announcement, warning it “could have far-reaching consequences for patients, healthcare workers, and the communities they serve.”
This is a breaking news story. Follow 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS on social media and on the KSTP app below for more updates.
The number of roosters heard during the North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s 2026 spring pheasant crowing count survey was 23.2 crows per stop, up 9% statewide from last year.
“Overwinter survival of adult pheasants has been outstanding. Typically, we lose up to 75% of our pheasant population each winter, but that has not been the case as of late,” said RJ Gross, Department upland game management biologist.
By region, observers heard 32.7 crows per stop in the southwest, up 5% from 2025; 22.2 crows per stop in the northwest, up 4%; and 23.1 crows per stop in the southeast, up 24% from last year. The count in the northeast, which is not a primary region for pheasants, was 9.3 crows per stop, up 43% from 2025.
Crowing counts are just one part of the picture, providing a glimpse of the population going into the breeding season. But Gross expects more good news as the peak of the pheasant hatch approaches.
“Entering the nesting season, residual grass cover looked good,” Gross said. “We have received ample precipitation that has led to increased growth in nesting and brood rearing cover across the state. Combined with high overwinter survival over the past three years and near ideal nesting habitat conditions, things are looking great for pheasants in North Dakota.”
Pheasant crowing counts are conducted each spring throughout North Dakota. Observers drive specified routes, stopping at predetermined intervals, and counting the number of roosters heard crowing. The number of pheasant crows heard is compared to previous years’ data, providing a trend summary.
As always, the late summer roadside counts conducted in July and August will give a better idea of brood production and the hunting outlook for fall.
For the full story, watch this week’s North Dakota Outdoors Webcast with R.J. Gross.
FARGO — It’s summer and that means time for class reunions, and the Wahpeton Class of 1960 is all in.
Most of the graduates are now in their 80s, but the success and impact they’ve had on other generations is remarkable.
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CLAY COUNTY, Minn. (Valley News Live) – A man is facing felony charges after authorities say he assaulted a woman inside a camper at Buffalo River State Park, then fled on a bicycle before a K9 unit tracked him down.
James Michael McArdell, 37, is charged with second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and felony domestic assault.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Clay County District Court, a park ranger heard a woman screaming inside a camper at the park just before 9 a.m. on June 16 and called 911. The ranger reported that a man had biked away from the scene.
When deputies arrived, a woman told them McArdell had shown up at her campsite the afternoon before. The next morning, she told him to leave after a verbal argument. He refused.
The complaint states McArdell began destroying items inside the camper. When the woman went back inside to confront him, McArdell jumped on her, held her down, and punched her repeatedly in the head with a closed fist. The woman grabbed a nearby crescent wrench to defend herself, but McArdell took it from her and struck her in the wrist with it.
The complaint says McArdell blocked the woman from leaving the camper multiple times. He fled only when she got the door open and he spotted the park ranger outside on the phone. The woman reported lumps on her head and a sore wrist.
Officers located McArdell several hours later. According to the complaint, he fled into tall grass when he saw law enforcement, and a K9 unit was used to track him down.
Court documents show McArdell has two prior domestic violence convictions from 2023 in North Dakota. At least one was a felony for assaulting the same victim. The prior convictions elevate the current domestic assault charge to a felony under Minnesota law.
McArdell is detained at the Clay County Jail pending further proceedings.
Second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon carries a maximum of seven years in prison, a $14,000 fine, or both. The felony domestic assault charge carries up to five years in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both.
Copyright 2026 KVLY. All rights reserved.
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