16 physicians anticipated to join Sanford Black Hills region
|
Jan. 30, 2026 |
|
Contact: |
RAPID CITY, S.D. — The Sanford Black Hills region is expanding its comprehensive, world-class health care services in western South Dakota with the planned addition of 16 physicians from a multitude of disciplines to its team. Providers specializing in gastroenterology, dermatology, optometry, ophthalmology, family medicine as well as general surgery are scheduled to join Sanford Health this spring.
The 16 physicians anticipated to join Sanford Health currently practice at Rapid City Medical Center. They are scheduled to transition their practices to Sanford Health on May 1. Formal notifications will be sent to patients with nothing changing for them at this time. For those patients choosing to continue their care with the new providers, Sanford Health will communicate with them to schedule future appointments.
“Sanford Health has a long history of bringing together local, independent physicians who share our vision for the future of health care. We are excited to welcome these 16 well known experts in the community to our already trusted team of physicians,” said Kyle Wiese, Sanford Black Hills president and CEO. “Patients are the real winners in today’s announcement, as they will now be directly connected to Sanford Health’s full range of integrated health care, including specialty and subspecialty care, clinical trials, veterans precision medicine and much more.”
These additions follow three major announcements from Sanford Health in the Black Hills region in 2025. In November, Denny Sanford provided a $300 million gift to help establish the Sanford Black Hills Medical Center campus in Rapid City. Black Hills Plastic Surgery and Creekside Medical Clinic joined the region last year. These developments reiterate Sanford Health’s mission-driven approach and commitment to expanding comprehensive, world-class health care services to meet the local needs of patients in Rapid City and the surrounding communities.
Physicians anticipated to join Sanford Health include:
Dermatology
- Gregory Wittenberg, M.D., FAAD
- Linda Fromm, M.D., FAAD
Family Medicine
- Darcey Stockland, M.D.
Gastroenterology
- Oksana Aleksenko, M.D.
- Nathan Jaqua, M.D.
- Blake Jones, M.D.
- Andrew Kelts, D.O.
- Erik Raborn, D.O.
General Surgeons
- Michael Statz, M.D.
- Robert Miller, M.D.
- Kristin Wempe, M.D.
- Tyler Bergstrom, M.D.
Ophthalmology
- Carson Eisenbiesz, M.D.
- Gail Bernard, M.D.
- Rebecca Linquist, M.D.
Optometry
- Joseph Hartford, O.D.
About Sanford Health
Sanford Health, the largest rural health system in the United States, is dedicated to transforming the health care experience and providing access to world-class health care in America’s heartland. Headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the organization has 55,000 employees and serves more than 2 million patients and nearly 415,000 health plan members across the upper Midwest including South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wyoming, Iowa, Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The integrated nonprofit health system includes a network of 58 hospitals, 289 clinic locations, 145 senior care communities, 4,500 physicians and advanced practice providers and 1,100 active clinical trials and studies. The organization’s transformational virtual care initiative brings patients closer to care with access to nearly 80 specialties. More than 400 residents and fellows are trained each year through graduate medical education with Sanford Health fully funding and supporting 29 of the 40 available programs. Sanford Health also includes Lewis Drug, a pharmacy and retail chain with 60 locations in three states and nearly 190 pharmacists. Learn more about Sanford Health’s commitment to shaping the future of rural health care across the lifespan at sanfordhealth.org or Sanford Health News.
###
