Sanford Health opens new five-story medical building
Facility is for digestive health and includes additional parking
Sanford Health, the largest rural health system in the United States, has completed a five-story medical building dedicated to Digestive Health and providing more parking space.
Sanford Health officials held a grand opening and ribbon cutting Monday afternoon at the new Medical Building 1 (MB1) at the Sanford USD Medical Center campus at 22nd Street and Grange Avenue.
Emcee Jordan Huisman, the Senior Business Banking Officer at First PREMIER Bank, kicked things off by sharing details of the new building and why it’s a major accomplishment for Sanford and Sioux Falls.
“It’s extremely important Sanford wants to do everything they can to attract new gastroenterologists in addition to retaining the talented team already in place,” Huisman said.
Sanford Senior Community Relations Specialist Olivia Essig then welcomed President and CEO for Sanford in Sioux Falls, Paul Hanson. Hanson offered words of appreciation for all those who made the new Digestive Health Center possible and how he is grateful to be a part of it, and other ventures and additional services during the past decade.
“We would not be able to do this without the generosity of so many people and obviously, Mr. (T. Denny) Sanford, who continues to demonstrate his commitment to our organization and our vision and providing care today and for tomorrow,” he said.
Following was Sanford Gastroenterologist Dr. Jeffrey Murray, M.D., who has been practicing with Sanford Health for 36 years.
“This new space has been a dream of mine for close to a decade,” Murray said. “And I’m very grateful to those who have shared that dream with me.”
He said that after touring other facilities nationwide, there is “nothing quite like” the Sanford Center for Digestive Health.
“This is truly a unique design catered toward the convenience and the comfort of our patients,” he said.
Murray will also oversee the Sanford Medical Education GI Fellowship Program, a three-year program done after a medical resident finishes their internal medicine residency. It’s the first and only program of its kind in the Dakotas.
“We now have the privilege to educate, train and produce top-performing gastroenterologists,” Murray said. “This is another important step in establishing Sanford Health as the destination for gastroenterology care on our way to becoming the premier rural health system in the country.”
Murray said by next year, gastroenterology is expected to be down more than 1,600 doctors, emphasizing the crucial need for these new services.
GI covers everything involving the digestive tract and diseases, including gall bladder disease and pancreatic cancer, which is on a “tremendous rise,” Murray said.
Dr. Jorge Gilbert, a Sanford Gastroenterologist of 23 years, reiterated the importance of training new and existing providers, saying it will make them better doctors and in turn, provide better patient care.
Concluding the list of speakers was Lawrence & Schiller CEO and Chair of the Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors Scott Lawrence, who presented a plaque commemorating the occasion.
Tours were then given after the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the new facility. Blue Rock Bar & Grill catered the event.
Construction for the Sanford Digestive Health Center in Medical Building 1 began in early 2022 and was estimated to cost about $4 million.
The new 237,000-square-foot, five-story MB1 features 400 parking spaces for patients and employees on the first four floors, with the top floor housing the Sanford Center for Digestive Health.
The 45,000-square-foot building also features 10 procedure rooms and 40 pre and post-procedure rooms. The center also includes a fellowship program space, a dedicated workspace for students as well as an endoscopic simulation space for trainees to learn endoscopic techniques.
The GI fellowship will welcome its first fellows in July 2025, according to Sanford Health’s website.
This Fellowship Program is made possible by a $300 million donation from Sanford, the health organization said. The fellowship was designated and earmarked as the first of several fellowships to be created through Sanford’s recent donation, Murray said.
More than 20 GI providers will work in the new building, where all the clinic space is adjacent to the procedure space on the top floor of MB1. The new build also has the ability to expand three additional levels for future growth.
This is the biggest individual building project for Sanford Health’s main campus since the completion of the 105,700-square-foot Imagenetics Building in 2017 and follows the $160 million Van Demark building expansion in 2022.
“Fulfilling our promise to be here for all, here for good is something we work toward every day at Sanford,” Essig said. “And we are proud to mark another milestone along the way with the opening of our Sanford Center for Digestive Health and Medical Building One.”