Windom Area Health entered a management relationship with Sanford Health (formerly Sioux Valley Hospitals & Health System) in 1989. With the relationship, Windom Area Health cooperates with Sanford Health in areas of physician recruitment, specialty clinic outreach recruiting, shared diagnostic resources, and managed care contract assistance. In 2009, Sanford Health merged with MeritCare of Fargo, ND to form an even stronger regional healthcare system.
Sanford Health Benefits
There are many advantages to this membership. The relationship is a partnership with a major focus on local healthcare delivery and access. Community-based healthcare is the cornerstone of the networking efforts. Benefits include:
- Keeping healthcare local.
Sanford Health provides support to local clinics in an effort to maintain local healthcare. - Clinical quality is supported through the partnership.
Sanford Health is accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. We have access to quality specialists through our partnership with Sanford Health. The quality program encourages process improvements and improvement of service standards. - Cost savings.
System partners benefit from economies of scale through a comprehensive group purchasing program. When costs of supplies are reduced, charges for those supplies are also reduced. - Access to management expertise.
We can access specialists in areas such as compliance, legal, human resources, information technology, finance and credentialing. - Autonomy.
There are no referral requirements in our partnership. A local governing board and administrator provide community leadership as well as leadership within the system.