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<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cWe know that there\u2019s opportunity,\u201d Sanford Health CEO Bill Gassen said. \u201cWhen you think about Ellsworth, Box Elder and Rapid City, those are some of the fastest-growing communities in the state of South Dakota, and for us to continue to meet the needs of a growing community, health care has to keep pace and hopefully get ahead of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The vision for the medical center is comprehensive, he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s inclusive of the adjacent clinics as well as medical office space and all the inpatient services,\u201d he said. \u201cAs we continue to build and stage this out, it\u2019s building out a full-scale medical campus to meet the growing needs of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
At full build-out, the campus would have 336 inpatient beds. Monument Health, which serves the region, has just over 400 beds at its Monument Health Rapid City Hospital.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to be really smart about how we scale that out, making sure we\u2019re not only meeting and keeping up with and ahead of demand from a patient perspective, but making sure from a workforce perspective we\u2019re allowing our programs \u2026 to help keep pace with that as well,\u201d Gassen said. \u201cAs we recruit new members in to join the team, the Black Hills is an incredible place to recruit top talent to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Starting in 2026, Sanford Health intends to invest $10 million over the next decade to partner with K\u201312 schools, technical colleges and universities across the Black Hills, including:<\/p>\n
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- $2.5 million: Expand the Aspire program to foster students\u2019 interest in health care and provide hands-on learning opportunities for more than 13,000 K-12 students.<\/li>\n
- $3 million: Invest in Build Dakota to support in-demand technical education.<\/li>\n
- $4.5 million: Expand sponsorships at regional post-secondary educational institutions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Since 2004, Denny Sanford has given more than $1.5 billion to Sanford Health, beginning with a 2004 gift to establish Sanford Children\u2019s Hospital in Sioux Falls, followed by a $400 million gift in 2007 that renamed Sioux Valley Hospitals & Health System in his honor. Sanford is the founder of First Premier Bank and Premier Bankcard and the chairman of its holding company, United National Corp.<\/p>\n
In 2021, he made a historic $650 million investment, launching a virtual care initiative and expanding graduate medical education programs to strengthen the rural physician pipeline.<\/p>\n
With the latest gift to support the Black Hills expansion, Sanford is approaching $2 billion in total giving.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a remarkable investment that he\u2019s made in Sanford Health, but Denny\u2019s giving in the state of South Dakota inclusive of but beyond Sanford Health is nearly $3 billion, and I think it\u2019s important people step back and realize how fortunate we are,\u201d Gassen said. \u201cWe have health care\u2019s greatest philanthropist who has invested $3 billion in the state while he\u2019s alive. That would be remarkable no matter what size community you were living in, but to be able to steward those dollars in the state of South Dakota is nothing short of historic.\u201d<\/p>\n
The $300 million donation will substantially cover the cost of construction, Gassen said.<\/p>\n