How Did T. Denny Sanford Get His Name On A Hospital?
Sioux Valley Hospital was a pinnacle in the Sioux Empire's health care system. That was until February of 2007 when things for the small rural hospital system would drastically change according to Zippia. It seemed out of the blue that a hospital that had been around since 1894 (also previously known as Sioux Falls Hospital before Sioux Valley Health) had completely rebranded itself. You may have heard over the years that the reason the hospital chained its name to Sanford was because of the many generous donations the hospital received from Mr. T. Denny Sanford. According to Forbes, Denny Sanford had a poor experience when he tried to pledge $125 million dollars towards a new football stadium for the University of Minnesota. After a change to the the stadium that nearly doubled the cost, Sanford was denied naming rights unless he gave more money to the project; outraged Mr. Sanford withdrew his entire offer. Thus, as a result of this experience Sanford vowed to avoid ' big bureaucratic institutions when it comes to charity'-Forbes. Now here's where the partnership between the hospital system that we all know today as Sanford began to take shape. Kelby Krabbenhoft, the head of the Sioux Valley Health system at the time had heard about how the U of M stadium situation had gone down. Krabbenhoft then,  "persuaded Sanford to give $16 million to a children's hospital that Sioux Valley was building--the first new children's hospital in the U.S. in a decade. Sanford got his name on the hospital. The new building will have 60 beds and look like a Disney castle. Sanford then funneled $15 million through Sioux Valley Health to the nearby Mayo Clinic to set up a partnership around pediatric research. Krabbenhoft also helped Sanford place $20 million with the University of South Dakota Medical School, which also took the Sanford name. After these generous monetary donations, in February of 2007 Sanford pledged $400 million to still Sioux Valley Health at the time causing it to shortly there after become Sanford Health. Since 2007, we can see that Sanford has donated several times over to increase Sanford's presence throughout the community with the Sanford Pentagon, The Denny Sanford Premier Center, The Sanford House and many other charitable projects. Thanks to these donations that T. Denny Sanford has made over the years has not only allowed Sanford Health to continue their medical research but has allowed the Sanford Health care system to become nationally recognized. Sources: Forbes and Zippia