Sanford Bemidji Board Welcomes Three New Members With Diverse Backgrounds

A physician who has treated patients in northern Minnesota since 1986 now holds a vote on the health system's governance board. Dr. Joseph Corser joined the Sanford Health of Northern Minnesota Board of Directors at one of its early-2026 meetings, part of a trio of new appointments announced April 8. Corser trained at Mayo Clinic and completed a family medicine residency at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Spokane before building a career in Bemidji that spans family medicine, emergency medicine, trauma, and addiction medicine. He currently chairs the Sanford Bemidji emergency department and works in the Recovery Medicine Clinic.

The second appointment is Brad Smith, a physician assistant in general surgery at Sanford Bemidji Medical Center who has held that role since 2002. Smith attended graduate school at Stanford University School of Medicine and is board certified by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants. He also trains future clinicians as a community faculty professor in physician assistant studies at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

The third new member, Nikki Brink, brings a private-sector background rooted in Bemidji. She earned a business degree from Bemidji State University and a banking diploma from the University of Wisconsin Madison, then served as chief operating officer at First National Bank Bemidji before becoming an independent Little Caesars franchisee in the city. She is also active with the United Way of Bemidji Area and Greater Bemidji.

The board, which includes BSU Vice President of Finance Krisi Fenner and Sanford Bemidji President and CEO Dr. Jason Caron, shapes decisions on clinical programs, capital priorities, and community health partnerships across northern Minnesota. Corser's appointment connects emergency care and addiction recovery directly to those deliberations.

Over the coming year, board-level movement on physician recruitment, trauma system investments, and behavioral health access will signal how the refreshed governance structure translates into services Beltrami County patients can actually reach. Brink's operational finance depth and Corser's 40 years of frontline northern Minnesota medicine give the board a range its prior composition did not have. The board also recognized outgoing members for their service as it welcomed the new appointments.