I guess the Military (National Guard?) has been setting up drive thru testing lanes in the parking lot at Washington HS. I wonder when the governor and mayor were going to tell us about this? Sanford has their testing setup at the Foundation House at the Sports Complex.

In an unrelated note I guess Sanford is also serious about building a 10,000 person capacity baseball stadium at the complex also. I noticed over the past couple of weeks they have finished a bunch of dirt work in the area and I believe seeded it with grass. I doubt they would start on it this summer.

I will have to admit, I about spit out my drink when I read this;

From the start, the two entities had a clash of cultures. Krabbenhoft and his executive team were viewed as swashbuckling. They had money and ambition.

I also think it did not help they were being investigated for Medicare Fraud and later fined $20 Million.

But for UnityPoint’s regional leaders, the Asfora announcement weighed heavily, leading to concerns about whether Sanford was more committed to money than patients.

Just look at who the hospital is named after, the Pirate of the Credit Card industry. Or look at the massive sports complex they have built. It often makes me scratch my head when lawmakers basically let Sanford do what they want to, do not regulate them or reign them in but instead incentivize them, and when these same lawmakers get sick they run to Minnesota. I can’t say I don’t blame them.

With Trump as president we seem to be living in this world where the truth and facts don’t matter, only what those in power can convince the public of what they believe the truth is.

Sanford’s statement isn’t surprising;

Sanford denies any liability or wrongdoing in regards to this settlement. We chose to settle because the amount is far less than the unnecessary costs and operational disruption that would have persisted for multiple years. 

They did have a slice of truth in the statement, it would have not only probably cost them a lot to fight this, if they would have lost, they could have lost all of their federal funding and reimbursements, and my guess, is that it is what this is all about. Sanford literally saved thousands of jobs and an institution by settling, but unfortunately, it should have never gotten this far.

And we wonder why healthcare costs are so high.

Every year Sanford holds a big party for it’s employees, they usually bring in a well known performer.

UPDATE: Employees had to pay $10 a ticket with a limit of two. It was a fundraiser for Sanford’s Employee Emergency fund. Tickets were available to Sanford employees as well as First Premier, Unity Point and GSS.

This year apparently they brought in Dave Matthews and Grace Potter (which I was told was fantastic). While I am not really a fan anymore (because all his stuff sounds the same) when he first got popular about 20 years ago, I did like some of that early stuff.

But what is disappointing is that Sanford kept this all to themselves. What would have been the harm in selling tickets to a public concert? Could Matthews sell out the Denty? Probably not, but heck, I guarantee he could have sold out the Pavilion.

Once again we see the sword Sanford wields on us. I was at a family event yesterday and one of my second cousins from Yankton asked me, “When is Sioux Falls going to rename itself to Sanford Falls?” It may be sooner then we think.

As I have talked about, I find it a little irritating that we are gifting the State Theatre $1.5 million based on the request of Denny Sanford.

Here are FOUR reasons we should say NO to this request;

SANFORD MADE MOST OF HIS FORTUNE BY PREYING ON PEOPLE WITH BAD CREDIT

And the Feds responded with major changes to the credit card laws;

The Credit CARD Act of 2009 prohibits upfront fees from totaling more than 25 percent of the card’s total available credit in the first year, and the rules that take effect in October provide greater detail on what that means. Specifically, the new rules expand the definition of “upfront fees” to include fees charged before the account is opened (for example, an application fee), not just those charged after it is opened.

Not only was Sanford involved, but our last mayor was the VP of Marketing for this subprime scheme.

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA SAID ‘NO’ TO A LARGE SANFORD DONATION

While Sanford has maintained it was the University’s fault this didn’t go through, the University says otherwise;

Then, in 2002, he reached out to his alma mater, the University of Minnesota. He offered $35 million for the construction of a new football stadium. Your idea of what happened next depends a lot on your loyalties. The University claimed Sanford wanted “too much control” over the project, and the two parties failed to reach an agreement. Sanford alleges the University got greedy, more than doubling the projected cost of the stadium, trying to coax a few extra millions out of Sanford’s pockets. He pulled out, feathers ruffled.

The other story was that Sanford wanted his name on the building to.

MINNESOTA ATTORNEY GENERAL PREVENTS SANFORD MERGER

Minnesota State Lawmakers got a little nervous about the merger;

Why did Sanford pull out of the talks? The prospect of the two $3 billion hospital systems merging alarmed some Minnesota leaders. The Minnesota Attorney General, Lori Swanson, called a press conference in late March to express concerns about Fairview assets remaining in Minnesota after a merger, and speculated about the future of the University of Minnesota’s teaching hospital, operated by Fairview, after a merger with an out-of-state entity. She convened a public hearing on short notice, on a Sunday in early April, and promised additional inquiry into the proposed merger. Two Minnesota state legislators introduced a bill to slow or stop the merger. Facing public suspicion and politicians intent on slowing, if not stopping, the merger, Sanford Health decided to cease merger discussions.

I met and spoke with AG Swanson shortly after this happened at a political event in Minneapolis. She basically told me that once their office started digging around on Sanford, the more concerned they got.

SANFORD HOSPITAL IS BEING INVESTIGATED FOR MEDICARE FRAUD

This of course is still going through the courts and investigation mode, but if found guilty there could be HUGE repercussions for the entire community;

Two doctors employed by Sanford Health are suing the company and one of its neurosurgeons, accusing them of defrauding the federal government and harming patients by performing unnecessary surgeries. Dustin Bechtold and Bryan Wellman filed the lawsuit in 2016, and a federal judge unsealed it Thursday. The complaint says Sanford Health has been buying medical devices from a company owned by Dr. Wilson Asfora, and that the surgeon uses those devices in unnecessary spine surgeries. The suit says this violates anti-kickback laws. The suit also says Sanford and Asfora billed Medicare and other programs for care that was never provided.

While Sanford has been very generous with his giving, there is certainly NO reason the Mayor or the City Council need to give money because he says so. We can say ‘NO’ to the whims of billionaires, other’s have. We just lack the courage.