Sanford, Fairview call off merger

For second time in a decade, headwinds from Minnesota doom merger attempt

A months-long effort to merge Sanford Health with Minnesota-based Fairview Health Services is being abandoned, Sanford announced in an email Thursday.

Although both health systems saw “significant benefits” to the merger that led them to “exhaust all potential pathways,” the merger was ultimately scrapped because of challenges that could not be overcome with “certain Minnesota stakeholders.”

“This is the right decision for our patients and residents, our people and the communities we serve,” Sanford Health President and CEO Bill Gassen said in the email to employees.