Bill Gassen, CEO of Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Sanford Health, and James Hereford, CEO of Minneapolis-based Fairview Health Services, responded to questions about their organizations' proposed merger in an interview with NBC affiliate KARE11.
Nurses' unions, the University of Minnesota and even the state's attorney general have pushed back against the merger, which leaders aim to close by March 31.
Here are some of their pending concerns — and Mr. Gassen's and Mr. Hereford's responses.
1. Sanford Health's headquarters are in South Dakota, a more conservative state than Minnesota with different laws on gender-affirming care and reproductive care, including abortion. Some Minnesotans are concerned the merger would restrict their access to these services.
"The gender-affirming care, the abortion care and abortion services that are provided, today, in the state of Minnesota, those are going to continue. They will remain unchanged as a result of this merger," Mr. Gassen told KARE11. "Don't take my word for it, but what we've committed is the by-laws for the new organization will expressly state that as well so that nobody can be concerned that there ends up being some kind of a corporate policy where you have people in a corporate headquarters deciding what type of care is provided."
2. Unionized workers are concerned a merger will affect the status of their bargaining agreements.
"Sanford Health has long had unionized workforces in Minnesota and we will continue to honor and respect those collective bargaining agreements post-merger," Mr. Gassen told KARE11.
3. Some people worry about hospital closures as a result of the merger.
The health system leaders said that since they do not overlap geographically, they will not be looking to close clinics or hospitals.
4. Higher costs and lower care quality have been associated with mergers.
"No one should argue that a merger by itself is going to yield anything. Higher costs, lower costs, higher quality, etcetera," Mr. Hereford told KARE11. "Because it also takes a dedication to actually achieve those things. An intent. That's part of why, I think, this combination makes so much sense to me. If you look at what drives Fairview and what drives Sanford in terms of improving quality, improving safety, driving down cost structures, creating a better patient experience — that intent is there."
5. It is troubling to some that the University of Minnesota — whose flagship hospital is owned by Fairview — is opposed to the merger.
"The conversation around the university and its future that it has charted has absolutely nothing to do with the merger with Sanford Health and Fairview Health Services," Mr. Gassen told KARE11. "What kind of gets lost in the public conversation, and some of the political theater that ensues, is the reality that there is a contract that is in place between Fairview and the university. That agreement runs until 2026."
6. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison says the organizations need to slow down their timeline.
"With all due respect, I know it seems like there's a lot of time for other people as it relates to bringing the two organizations together, but what we do every single day is life and death, and our ability to be able to continue to do that and to do that in a sustainable way into the future is critical," Mr. Gassen told KARE11. "So every day that we delay bringing the organizations together is another day for missed opportunity."