Sanford Bemidji Medical Center named among nation’s great community hospitals

Sanford Bemidji Medical Center was named to Becker’s Healthcare’s 2026 list of 100 Great Community Hospitals. The Bemidji campus is northwest Minnesota’s main care hub, the region’s largest hospital, with 118 licensed beds and a service area of more than 176,000 people.

The list cited the hospital’s reach, awards and support for local nonprofit organizations. Sanford Health says the medical center has served the Bemidji community since 1898 and now helps cover care across seven counties and 16 communities. It is also the only Level III trauma center within 70 miles, with a fully staffed emergency room and a regional hub for Sanford AirMed air ambulance service.

Sanford Health’s 2024 Community Commitment Report lists more than 2,200 employees and more than 250 community collaborators at the Bemidji operation. Sanford Behavioral Health Bemidji continues to offer psychiatry and counseling services on Anne Street, and a Minnesota state directory lists mobile crisis response services as available 24 hours a day in Beltrami County. Sanford also opened free naloxone distribution boxes in the Bemidji and Bagley emergency departments in January, and the boxes allow anyone to take Narcan without a prescription, training or questions asked.

Karla Eischens, RPh, has led Sanford Health in Bemidji since 2022 and is set to retire at the end of 2025, while Jason Caron, MD, was named her successor in July 2025. Sanford Bemidji was also included on Becker’s Great Community Hospitals list in 2023.

Sanford Health Foundation raised nearly $415,000 on June 12 for emergency-department improvements at Sanford Bemidji Medical Center, along with a $1 million gift from retired Sanford emergency medicine physician Dr. Richard Stennes and his wife, Nilla.