SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – A federal appeals court has affirmed a decision by a North Dakota judge who blocked a merger between Sanford Health and a private physicians group.
Sanford, headquartered in Sioux Falls, wanted to acquire Mid Dakota Clinic, but the Federal Trade Commission and the North Dakota Attorney General’s Office objected to the merger.
Judge Alice Senechal granted a preliminary hearing halting the deal and Sanford appealed to the Eighth District Court of Appeals. A three-judge panel upheld Senechal’s ruling late last week.
Mid Dakota’s practice includes 23 primary care physicians, six pediatricians, eight OB/GYN physicians and five general surgeons. If a merger were allowed Sanford would have 84 to 99 percent of the market share in the Bismarck-Mandan area.
