FARGO (AP) -- Sanford Health plans a center in southwest Fargo dedicated to helping athletes boost performance, and a digital mammography center in the South Dakota city of Chamberlain.
Sanford Health-Meritcare formed last year when Sanford Health of Sioux Falls, S.D., and Fargo-based MeritCare merged. Starting in July it will drop "Meritcare" from its name.
The athletics center will be modeled on one built two years ago in Sioux Falls that cost $2.5 million. Sanford also expects soon to have an agreement to provide sports medicine services for North Dakota State University in Fargo.
The performance athletics center is separate from the recently announced $12 million fitness and wellness center Sanford plans to build in partnership with the Fargo YMCA, though it also will be located at the Urban Plains development in southwest Fargo.
Sanford vice president Kevin Lampe said the health system is working to develop an orthopedics and sports medicine program with a reputation that will attract athletes from around the country.
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Sanford said the Chamberlain mammography center will help underserved women in central South Dakota. It is being funded with a $489,300 grant over three years from the charitable trust established by the late hotel and real estate baroness Leona Helmsley.
The Sanford Health Network also will provide about $372,000 for a 16-passenger van that will travel to American Indian reservations and communities in remote areas in a three-county area, providing transportation for women to and from the digital mammography facility.
"We want to build awareness of the importance of cancer screening and debunk myths and misconceptions about cancer and cancer treatment," said Maureen Cadwell, chief executive of Sanford Mid-Dakota Medical Center in Chamberlain. "The center will be created for women, rather than a one-size-fits-all clinic waiting room."
