Sanford Health and Fairview Health Services are again delaying their proposed merger, announcing a new timeline that prevents a closing before late August, the Star Tribune reports in Minnesota.
The health systems also said they would provide a 90-day notice of the closing, per a request from Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office.
“We remain confident in the benefits of the merger,” the health systems said in a statement.
Ellison’s office said the attorney general did not make a specific request for the latest extension but learned of it from the health systems Friday. The attorney general has said repeatedly the schedule the health systems proposed created unnecessary time pressures for his investigation.
“In order to prevent a future surprise announcement of a new closing date by the parties that might impact the office’s investigation, the [attorney general’s office] requested that any future proposed closing date be provided with a minimum of 90 days’ notice to us, to which the parties agreed,” Ellison’s office said in a statement.
In February, South Dakota-based Sanford and Minneapolis-based Fairview agreed with Ellison’s office to delay their merger timeline from March 31 to May 31. At the time, the attorney general still was collecting information about the merger, which would create one of the largest health care systems in the Upper Midwest. Read more.
