Sanford Health reinvested more than $1 billion in 2024 to support patients, strengthen communities and expand access to healthcare across the rural communities it serves. The investments are detailed in Sanford Health’s annual Community Impact Report, which highlights how the nonprofit health system reinvests resources to improve community health and ensure access to care close to home.
As the nation’s largest rural nonprofit health system, Sanford Health serves communities where patients often face unique challenges, including provider shortages, longer travel distances for care and higher rates of chronic disease. Through investments in subsidized health services, uncompensated care, workforce development, medical research and community programs, Sanford Health works to address those challenges and improve health outcomes across the Upper Midwest.
“At Sanford Health, our commitment to the people we serve extends far beyond our clinics and hospitals,” said Bill Gassen, president and CEO of Sanford Health. “As a nonprofit health system, we reinvest in programs, services and partnerships that strengthen the health of our communities, support patients regardless of their financial circumstances and help ensure access to high-quality care for generations to come.
“The release of this report comes at a particularly meaningful time as we honor the passing of our benefactor and namesake, Denny Sanford. Throughout his life, Denny was deeply committed to strengthening the health and well-being of the communities he cared about, and that legacy continues to inspire this work today,” added Gassen.
Read more: Denny Sanford leaves legacy in healthcare and beyond
Investing in community health, education, research and more
Highlights from the 2024 Community Impact Report include:
- $320.4 million invested in subsidized health services that help sustain essential healthcare programs in rural communities
- $206.6 million in uncompensated care provided to patients regardless of their ability to pay
- $302.4 million absorbed in Medicaid and Medicare underpayments, helping maintain access to care in communities where public reimbursement does not cover the full cost of services
- $118.5 million invested in community health improvement services guided by local Community Health Needs Assessment priorities
- $61.6 million invested in health professions education, including support for more than 400 residents and fellows training in a variety of specialties
- $19.7 million invested in medical research, supporting nearly 1,100 active clinical trials that help connect rural patients to innovative treatments and therapies
The report reflects the most recently available Form 990 data based on annual federal filing deadlines and is organized around the IRS Form 990 Schedule H, which requires nonprofit health systems to demonstrate how their investments deliver community benefit and advance public health.
Sanford Health’s report reflects investments across seven key categories, including uncompensated care, subsidized health services, community health improvement, workforce development, medical research and community-building activities.
Learn more
- Community paramedic program answers call for access to care
- Agencies train together to keep the community safer
- Hospital partnership builds an ICU for rural Minnesota
…
Posted In Community Impact, Here for all. Here for good., News, Rural Health, Thought Leadership
