The “Here for all. Here for Good.” campaign focuses on the health system’s commitment to serving its communities, including its rural, underserved communities.

Sanford Health recently launched a brand campaign, “Here for all. Here for good.” which shares the health system’s commitment to caring for its communities and highlights the organization’s commitment of caring for its rural and underserved communities.

This new campaign includes a multi-faceted approach and includes television commercials, social media content, and billboards. It also utilizes visuals that can be seen in hospitals, clinics, and landmarks in the health system’s upper mid-west footprint, including grain bins on rural farms.

Sanford Health president and CEO, Bill Gassen, recently connected with HealthLeaders to share insights on the campaign and why it’s important to focus on ensuring quality care in rural, underserved communities.

HealthLeaders: Why was it important to address the health system’s rural communities with this new brand campaign?

Bill Gassen: This new brand campaign celebrates Sanford Health’s legacy and identity and reinforces our promise to our patients and residents, our people, and the rural communities we serve. 

We have deep roots in the rural upper Midwest — we’ve delivered care here for over a century. Two-thirds of our patients and 70% of our long-term care residents live in rural communities across America’s heartland. We also know that rural communities face unique challenges when it comes to health care, including access to services as well as higher rates of chronic disease and other health disparities.

We do not take for granted our obligation to those who place their trust in us. Across our 250,000-mile footprint, we serve more than 1.1 million patients, 221,000 health plan members and 14,500 post-acute residents every year.

Our goal with this campaign is to raise awareness about our clinical excellence and impact in rural health care and cement our commitment to being here for our people and communities for generations to come. 

HL: Why was Here for all. Here for good. chosen as the brand campaign’s slogan?

Gassen: “Here for all. Here for good.” means we are here for every patient and resident in every community. For every generation of every family. For each other in every location. We’re here for every challenge and every celebration. It reflects our commitment to delivering exceptional care as well as to our permanence in the region.

This campaign is also about our people. We are grateful to our 47,000 employees who are part of our Sanford Family and carry out our mission every day by delivering the best of care with compassion to our patients and residents. We want our people to know we will continue to be here to support them no matter what. We hope that we also empower each of them to live out what it means to be Here for all. Here for good.

HL: What advice do you have for other health systems that serve rural communities and underserved populations? What should they be focusing on in those communities?

Gassen: We’re focused on doing all we can to increase access to high-quality, world-class care no matter where someone calls home. 

The challenges facing rural Americans may not be new, but issues like healthcare workforce shortages, barriers to access, and health disparities have only been exacerbated during the pandemic, taking a disproportionate toll on rural America. Rural communities also continue to experience higher rates of poverty, food insecurity, and chronic disease.

We believe the rural perspective is often missing from the national dialogue when we talk about how to improve and shape the future of health care delivery. I would encourage other health systems that serve rural, underserved communities to make sure their voices are heard so that, together, we can ensure that access to high-quality care in America is not limited by a zip code. 

We remain optimistic about the future. Sanford Health recently announced a transformational $350 million gift that will help to establish a world-class Virtual Care Center, which will serve communities across our rural footprint, and beyond through our network of hospitals and clinics, allowing patients to access health care using the most advanced technology as close to home as possible, with a particular focus on underserved rural areas. The Sanford Virtual Care Center will also represent the premier training ground to attract, retain, and prepare medical students, residents, and nurses for this next generation of care delivery. 

By connecting with patients where they are and extending our specialty services to more remote, rural areas, we will be Here for all. Here for good.