Sanford Health merges with A Better Connection (ABC) in Park Rapids, Minn.

PARK RAPIDS, Minn. – Sanford Health and A Better Connection, Inc. (ABC) in Park Rapids, Minn., recently completed the final steps necessary to move forward with merging the two organizations. Effective Monday, Dec. 13, A Better Connection, Inc. (ABC) will begin operating as the Sanford Health Park Rapids Behavioral Health Center.

“After months of due diligence, we are excited to join forces with ABC to provide and expand behavioral health care services for the Park Rapids community,” shared James Coughenour, senior director of behavioral health services at Sanford Health Bemidji. “ABC programs are critical to the community, and their mental health expertise paired with Sanford Health’s commitment to quality care close to home make this partnership a natural step in expanding the community’s behavioral health services together.”

Patients will be able to continue seeing their current providers and taking part in programs and services at their current locations with no interruptions in their care. Serving the Park Rapids community since 2012, ABC provides comprehensive behavioral health and addiction services for families, groups and individuals including:

• Chemical Health Intensive Outpatient Services and Assessments (Rule 245G License)

• Child Therapeutic Services and Supports (CTSS)

• Mental Health Diagnostic Assessments

• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

• Animal Assisted Therapy

• Somatic Experiencing (SE)

• Play Therapy

• Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)

• Heart Math Therapy

• Behavioral health services for a variety of diagnoses including, but not limited to, eating disorders, bariatric surgery, difficult behaviors, autism spectrum disorders, grief and loss, trauma, domestic violence, personality disorders, chronic pain management, mood disorders, stress management, spiritual counseling, parenting support, etc.

Sanford Bemidji Regional Behavioral Health

Since merging with Upper Mississippi Mental Health Center in 2018, Sanford Health expanded behavioral health services in the Bemidji area to include adult and child psychiatry, addiction recovery, adult rehabilitative mental health services, children’s therapeutic support services, Assertive Community Treatment (ACT), mental health mobile crisis services and additional outreach behavioral health services at Sanford Health locations throughout northern Minnesota.

Sanford Health constructed the Sanford Health PrimeWest Residential Support Center in Bemidji in 2019 as a voluntary residential treatment facility for adults across northern Minnesota who are overcoming mental health and chemical dependency issues by integrating a patients’ entire care team into their treatment and healing process while they remain in the community.

The regional healthcare provider recently broke ground on the Sanford Bemidji Behavioral Health Crisis Center in October 2021. The center will provide behavioral health crisis services and facilities for adults and adolescents in crisis from across Minnesota, including an innovative Emergency Psychiatric Assessment Treatment and Healing (EmPATH) Unit as well as eight adult inpatient psychiatric beds. Constructed in partnership with Beltrami County, the crisis center is planned for completion in late 2022.

About Sanford Health

Sanford Health, one of the largest health systems in the United States, is dedicated to the integrated delivery of health care, genomic medicine, senior care and services, global clinics, research and affordable insurance. Headquartered in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, the organization includes 46 hospitals, 1,500 physicians and more than 200 Good Samaritan Society senior care locations in 26 states and 10 countries. Learn more about Sanford Health’s transformative work to improve the human condition at sanfordhealth.org or Sanford Health News.