Dickinson, ND, hospital secures land

A land agreement approved Thursday may lead to a new Dickinson hospital.

Catholic Health Initiatives, which owns St. Joseph’s Hospital and Health Center in Dickinson, secured 38 acres of Stark County land on the west side of Dickinson.

If a new hospital were constructed, the next step would be to decide what to do with the existing hospital.

“We’ve been working on a long-term strategic plan for our facility,” said Mike Lefor, St. Joseph’s Board chairman. “During these discussions it became apparent that our board would like to invest in the future of the community by making an offer to purchase land through a land option.”

The agreement reportedly requires the hospital to give the county a down payment of $253,400. The hospital must then decide within two years whether to buy the land for $1.27 million, Lefor said.

“At anytime between now and a period of two years, when we exercise that option, we would pay the balance of $1.014 million,” Lefor said.

The down payment is not refundable. The land is just west of the West River Community Center and south of Interstate 94.

The Stark County Park Board and Stark County Commission unanimously approved the agreement at a special meeting held Thursday afternoon at the county courthouse.

“This is huge for us. This is a big leap of faith,” Stark County Commission Chairman Duane “Bucky” Wolf said. “In Dickinson and Stark County we always talk about quality of place. If we don’t have adequate and a good medical facility, we might as well forget about talking about quality of place. That’s how important good health service is to this community.”

The Park Board reportedly offered the land to the hospital. Its close proximity to the interstate was a selling factor, said Reed Reyman, St. Joseph’s Hospital president and CEO.

“It has to be a board-driven community strategy,” Reyman said. “I think this is just the very first initial part of that strategy.”

However, if the land is purchased, it will be used for the construction of a medical facility, Reyman said.

“We want to be transparent through the whole process,” Reyman said.

Lefor added public input meetings will be held, though dates have not been set.

“It’s exciting for the community because they’ll get the opportunity to participate in the direction of health care services moving forward,” Reyman said.

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