Sanford Bemidji Board of Directors welcomes new members
April 8, 2026
Contact:
Jillian Johnson
Media Relations Specialist –Bemidji Region
(218) 333-6090 / jillian.johnson@sanfordhealth.org
BEMIDJI, Minn. – The Sanford Health of Northern Minnesota Board of Directors in Bemidji recently welcomed three new members at its January and February meetings.
Nikki Brink: Brink is the owner of an independent Little Caesars franchise in Bemidji. Prior to that she served as the Chief Operations Officer at First National Bank Bemidji. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Bemidji State University as well as a diploma from the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin Madison.
Brink is involved in several community organizations including the United Way of Bemidji Area and Greater Bemidji.
Brad Smith, PA-C: Smith has been a physician assistant in general surgery at Sanford Bemidji Medical Center since 2002. He attended graduate school at Stanford University School of Medicine, in Stanford, Calif., and is board certified by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants.
Smith teaches physician assistant students at Sanford Health of Northern Minnesota and also serves as community faculty professor in physician assistant studies at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
Dr. Joseph Corser: Dr. Corser has been a family medicine provider in northern Minnesota since 1986 following medical school at Mayo Clinic and subsequently a residency in family medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Spokane, Wash.
He specializes in emergency medicine, trauma and addiction medicine. He also serves as chair of the emergency department and works in the Sanford Bemidji Recovery Medicine Clinic.
They join Board Chair Ryan Welle, of First National Bank Bemidji, Vice Chair Pete Aube, retired businessman, Treasurer Suzanne Frambers, retired clinical nurse, Secretary Dr. Steve Rith-Najarian, Doug Carlson, retired educator, Dr. Jason Caron, President and CEO of Sanford Bemidji, Mary Fairbanks, retired clinical nurse and professor, Krisi Fenner, Vice President of Finance and Administration at BSU, Andrea Kingbird, JD, Attorney and General Counsel for White Earth Nation, Dr. Michael LeBeau, Sanford Health System Vice President, Dr. Ashley Lundin, Sanford Health Ophthalmologist, and Dr. JoLyn Seitz, Sanford Health OB/GYN.
Additionally, the board extends its gratitude to Shelly Geerdes, CEO of Pinnacle Marketing Group, Gary Johnson, retired CEO of Paul Bunyan Communications, and Chief Dan King, President of Red Lake Nation College, for their dedicated service as they completed their terms at the end of December. Their leadership, expertise and commitment to supporting health care in our communities have been invaluable to the organization.
For more information about Sanford Health, visit sanfordhealth.org.
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.
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