Good Samaritan Committed to High-Quality Senior Care

Providing high-quality care to seniors in America’s heartland is at the core of Good Samaritan’s mission. With more than 70% of its residents living in rural areas, the nonprofit organization provides access to care close to home for seniors and their families.

Good Samaritan’s commitment to the seniors, families and communities it serves are detailed in Good Samaritan’s 2025 Quality Report, which highlights the organization’s progress over the past year. In 2025, Good Samaritan expanded access to care with a commitment to solving the unique challenges of rural health care delivery; enhanced safety in its long-term care centers, meeting every individual’s needs through personalized services; engaged with its communities through enriching partnerships with schools, churches and local organizations; and built a stronger workforce through programs that emphasize nurse and caregiver support.

“Providing exceptional care to those we serve is the foundation of Good Samaritan’s purpose and the guiding force behind every decision we make,” said Nate Schema, Good Samaritan president and CEO. “Each day, residents and their families place their trust in us, and we are committed to honoring that trust by living out our mission to care, comfort and cure. I extend my sincere appreciation to our team members whose dedication and professionalism make this work possible. By working together — alongside residents, families and community partners — we remain focused on continuously advancing the quality of care and experience we provide. It is an honor we embrace fully.”

In 2025, Good Samaritan had eight active Silver - Achievement in Quality and 41 active Bronze - Commitment to Quality award recipients through the American Health Care and National Center for Assisted living (AHCA/NCAL) National Quality Award Program. The prestigious award program recognizes organizations that meet progressively rigorous standards of performance to further improve the lives of residents and staff in long-term care.

Expanding Access

• In the fall, Sanford Health expanded virtual care services to 27 Good Samaritan skilled nursing and assisted living facilities in South Dakota, as part of Sanford’s $350 million virtual care initiative. My Care Line virtually connects Good Samaritan caregivers with Sanford Health registered nurses (RNs) and advanced practice providers (APPs) during evenings, weekends and overnights.

• Progress continues on Good Samaritan Society – Founder’s Crossing, a full continuum of care senior living community in Sioux Falls, set to open in 2026. It will offer all health and wellness services under one roof, including independent living apartments and villas; assisted living and memory care services; short-term rehabilitation and long-term care; home-based services; life enrichment programs; a Sanford Health clinic and Lewis Drug.

• In June, leaders from Good Samaritan and administrators from its locations met with elected officially at the 2025 American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) Congressional Briefing on Capitol Hill – advocating for policies like the Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act, which would help build the nursing workforce by tapping into the pipeline of internationally trained nurses.

Enhancing Safety

• Good Samaritan introduced two significant SAFE-related initiations in 2025. Sanford Accountability For Excellence (SAFE) is Sanford Health’s high-reliability initiative to prioritize safety first in every decision and interaction.

  • In April, Good Samaritan launched the SAFE Event Reporting platform, an advanced risk management system designed to streamline and enhance the reporting of safety events across its post-acute locations.

  • In August, Good Samaritan implemented daily safety meetings designed to address patient care, concerns about the daily processes and policy needs.

• Good Samaritan identified an opportunity for improvements with urinary tract infections (UTIs) and selected UTI reduction as a 2025 performance improvement priority. From July 2023 to December 2025, UTIs dropped 2.43%, from 5.12% to 2.69%, sustaining improvements each quarter. 

• Good Samaritan and Sanford Health Equip – which offers home health accessories and medical equipment – brought walker tune-ups directly to residents. Equip’s teams visited nine Good Samaritan locations in 2025 across South Dakota and Minnesota.

Community Engagement

• In 2025, the Good Samaritan Foundation launched a matching grant program to inspire local engagement and amplify donor impact. Each participating Good Samaritan location was challenged to raise $10,000. Once they did, the Foundation awarded them a $10,000 matching grant — resulting in $20,000 to fund meaningful projects that directly benefit residents. 30 locations received matching grants in 2025.

Strengthening Workforce

• In 2025, as part of the ongoing commitment to strengthening quality of care and improving nurse retention, Good Samaritan launched a new orientation process for licensed nurses in skilled nursing facilities. The new onboarding process enhances orientation and complements online training — overall improving the new hire experience, retention and clinical outcomes.

• Good Samaritan began offering an onboarding pathway program for all new directors of nursing (DNSs) hired into a nursing home/long-term care facility. The program, which is individualized to the DNS and their experience levels, includes computer-based training, four weeks of onboarding, eight basic virtual sessions and nine advanced virtual sessions.

For more information about Good Samaritan, visit www.good-sam.com.