Sanford Health and Marshfield Clinic Health System have signed an agreement to create an integrated health system, the pair announced Thursday. Officials from Sanford Health and Marshfield Clinic Health System say their combined efforts will strengthen rural health care for generations to come. Sanford Health is the largest rural health system in the U.
S., headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Marshfield Clinic Health System is a physician-led health system headquartered in Marshfield serving rural Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Together the two companies have “signed an affiliation agreement to combine their complementary assets and capabilities and create an integrated health system dedicated to advancing world-class care in the rural Midwest,” a press release from Sanford Health and Marshfield Clinic Health System says. The combined nonprofit system will improve patient outcomes through new care delivery models and use each organization's respective health plan to serve more than 425,000 members, harness the full promise of technology including virtual care, expand the breadth and depth of research capabilities and strengthen the ability to train, educate and support future clinicians to advance the health of communities, the release says. “In Sanford Health we found a partner that closely aligns with our culture, mission, and values, and we look forward to continuing on this journey as the premier rural health system in the United States,” said .