Submitted Photo U.S. Sen. John Hoeven speaks at a community celebration to mark the transition of the Devils Lake hospital from CommonSpirit Health to Altru Health System as community and health system leaders listen at right.

DEVILS LAKE – U.S. Sen. John Hoeven joined officials from Altru Health System and CommonSpirit Health for a community celebration to mark the acquisition of Devils Lake Hospital by Altru.

The agreement was approved by Pope Leo XIV, the first American Pope, in December and the final transition of ownership will occur on March 1.

“The acquisition of Devils Lake Hospital is a pivotal milestone in our efforts to bring the best possible health care to the Lake Region. I appreciate the hard work of Mayor (Jim) Moe and the teams at Altru and CommonSpirit Health to advance this agreement, as well as all of the community members who provided feedback and input as we worked to identify the right solution,” Hoeven said.

Specifically, this effort sought to identify and advance a community-led solution to address local concerns about health care access. Hoeven arranged three community meetings across 2023 and 2024 with local residents, regional leaders and health care providers to gather feedback and address community concerns.

The effort also sought to secure commitments from CommonSpirit Health to make improvements to the hospital and work towards a long-term solution that benefits the entire region. After the first community meeting, Hoeven met with CommonSpirit Health CEO Wright Lassiter III in Washington, D.C. to advance these priorities. CommonSpirit subsequently undertook a $10 million renovation of the hospital’s emergency department.

Additionally, the effort sought to bring a unified health care system to the Lake Region and ensure access to the best possible health care for local residents.

“The timing of this acquisition is fitting, as North Dakota has just started moving on its plan to transform rural health care across our state,” Hoeven said. “We’ve set a goal of securing $1 billion for this initiative, and we’re off to a strong start, having secured $200 million in the first year. Updating Critical Access Hospitals like Devils Lake Hospital is a central part of these efforts and one of the reasons our state has a head start, and I believe that we can bring state-of-the-art health care to this region, just as we’ve done for communities like Rugby, Grafton, Hazen and Cando.”