Utah-based Intermountain Healthcare (Intermountain), and South Dakota-based Sanford Health (Sanford) signed a letter of intent to formulate a strategic partnership. Previously, the boards of Intermountain and Sanford had approved a resolution to begin the due diligence process with the end goal of reaching a merger agreement that “will bring both health systems together as a model for improving access to high value healthcare across the U.S.” Early plans are for the potential merger to close by the end of 2021. If successful, the merger would create an organization with 70 hospitals and over 89,000 employees in 24 states.