06.28.24

Hoeven Statement on Altru’s Planned Acquisition of Devils Lake Hospital From CommonSpirit

Senator Outlines Efforts to Ensure Quality Health Care in the Lake Region, Recognizes CommonSpirit, Altru & Devils Lake Mayor for Shared Efforts Towards This Goal

DEVILS LAKE, N.D. – Senator John Hoeven today issued the following statement after CommonSpirit Health and Altru Health announced a letter of intent (LOI) for Altru to acquire the Devils Lake hospital.

“This announcement is an important milestone towards ensuring quality health care in the Devils Lake region, and was made possible through community engagement and provider collaboration. Tim Bricker and Todd Forkel have been incredible partners during this process. I appreciate their willingness to work with me, Mayor Moe and the community to move this priority forward, as well as the time and resources they’ve devoted to the many meetings, calls and visits to Devils Lake we’ve held over the past year,” said Senator Hoeven. “Altru’s acquisition of the Devils Lake Hospital will meet the community’s goal of bringing unified care to the region and build upon the renovations that CommonSpirit is currently undertaking in the emergency department. Once Altru completes its due diligence within the next six months, the door to even more improvements will be open, and we look forward to seeing these plans become reality.”

“CommonSpirit wants patients in the Devils Lake region to have access to strong, local healthcare services,” said Tim Bricker, president for CommonSpirit’s Central Region. “Altru is well-positioned to integrate Devils Lake into a continuum of care. We look forward to continuing our conversations. We are grateful for Senator Hoeven, Todd Forkel, local leaders and the community for their partnership through this process.”

“We are excited for the opportunity to expand upon Altru's commitment to advancing healthcare in the Lake Region,” said Todd Forkel, CEO of Altru Health System. “We are grateful to Senator Hoeven and local leaders for their support and passion for keeping healthcare local, and to Tim Bricker and his team for their collaboration.”

“We are thankful to all those involved in helping us get to this point. We’re looking forward to the prospect of a united health care system in Devils Lake that will be poised to meet our local health care needs,” said Jim Moe, Mayor of the City of Devils Lake.

Ensuring Quality Health Care in the Devils Lake Region

  • Hoeven joined CommonSpirit Health Regional President Tim Bricker, Altru Health CEO Todd Forkel and Devils Lake Mayor Jim Moe at a press conference today announcing and discussing the details of the LOI.
  • Under the agreement, Altru will purchase the hospital, land and equipment, subject to a 6-month due diligence period.
    • In the meantime, CommonSpirit will continue its $10 million renovation of the hospital’s emergency department, which is currently underway.
    • Altru is also committed to retaining the current employees and bringing specialists from Grand Forks to Devils Lake, as appropriate.
  • This follows Hoeven’s efforts with Mayor Moe, officials from the Spirit Lake Tribe and local health care providers to:
    • Address the community’s health care needs.
    • Secure updates for the hospital.
    • Advance community-driven solutions to benefit both providers and patients.

Hoeven has repeatedly met and spoken with local leaders and officials from CommonSpirit, Altru and Essentia Health over the past year in order to identify and move forward with solutions that will ensure the best possible care for residents of the Devils Lake region. The senator arranged three community roundtables, which were reinforced by the more than dozen discussions the senator held with Bricker, Forkel, Mayor Moe and others to advance this priority. After the first community meeting, Hoeven met with CommonSpirit Health CEO Wright Lassiter III in Washington, D.C. to outline the community’s concerns and work towards a solution. At that meeting Lassiter told Hoeven he would designate Regional President Bricker to work with the senator and the community to find a solution.