VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Essentia Health and CommonSpirit Health signed a Letter of Intent in January for CommonSpirit-owned facilities operating under the CHI brand in North Dakota and Minnesota to join Essentia Health. This includes CHI Hospitals in Valley City and Lisbon, ND.

CHI Mercy Hospital CEO Keith Heuser said the signing of a Letter of Intent last month was just the first step.

Two year ago, Dignity Health and Catholic Health Initiatives merged into CommonSpirit Health, creating a new nonprofit Catholic health system in the U.S.

Right now, Essentia Health is in the negotiation process with CommonSpirit Health. So far, nothing has been finalized.

The full interview with Keith Heuser is available below.