Sanford Bemidji names Dr. Joseph Corser interim chief medical officer

Sanford Health Bemidji has turned to one of its most established local physicians to steady a key leadership post, naming Dr. Joseph Corser interim chief medical officer after the departure of Dr. Daniel Hoody. The appointment took effect June 1 and puts Corser in charge at a time when patients, staff and local providers depend on smooth clinical leadership at Sanford Bemidji Medical Center.

Corser is not a new face in Bemidji. Sanford says he helped develop the hospitalist program at Sanford Bemidji Medical Center, the Sanford Bemidji Recovery Medicine Clinic and the hospital’s trauma program, which reached Level 3 designation in 2020. He has also served as medical director for Bemidji Ambulance Service for more than two decades, giving him long-standing ties to the emergency-response network that serves Bemidji and the surrounding Beltrami County area.

His clinical background is broad enough to match the scope of the job. Sanford’s physician directory lists Corser as a specialist in emergency medicine, trauma and addiction medicine. It also identifies him as medical director for the First Steps to Healthy Families program and the Sanford Bemidji Medication Assisted Therapy Clinic, roles that connect him to both family health and addiction treatment services for vulnerable patients in the region.

The interim appointment matters because the chief medical officer sits at the center of physician leadership, hospital operations and service coordination. In a rural health market like Bemidji, that can shape how quickly the hospital responds to staffing changes, clinical priorities and operational pressure. Sanford Health Bemidji president and CEO Dr. Jason Caron said Corser brings decades of clinical, operational and community health leadership experience to the role, and Sanford said it will conduct a formal search for a permanent chief medical officer. The move suggests the system is aiming for continuity rather than a rushed handoff.

That continuity carries weight at a medical center with deep local roots and heavy daily demand. Sanford Bemidji Medical Center was founded in 1898 and says its emergency department treats nearly 30,000 patients a year. The hospital also reports more than 6,000 admissions and 800 births each year in its level II nursery. Across Sanford Health, the system includes 58 medical centers, 289 clinic locations, 145 senior care communities and about 4,500 physicians and advanced practice providers, underscoring how one leadership change in Bemidji fits into a much larger regional network.