Pride & Promise: Healthcare Leaders Share Their Wins for ‘24 and Their Hopes for ‘25

Richard Nordahl, CEO, Sanford Sheldon Medical Center, Sheldon, Iowa 

Richard Nordahl, CEO, Sanford Sheldon Medical Center 

In our ongoing effort to keep our metaphorical finger on the pulse of what's happening in our wide and diverse medical community, we invited regional healthcare leaders to share their insights about the year past and the year to come. Our hope is that you'll learn something new about the health systems around you, get to know some of the people at the helm, and find inspiration for your own organizations as we navigate a new year.  

1) What are you proudest/most excited about what your organization has initiated or accomplished in 2024? 

This past summer, Sanford Sheldon Medical Center installed a faster, more comfortable MRI machine for patients. This new machine provides better image quality and has many advanced features, allowing Sanford Sheldon to provide quality care in a more comfortable and efficient environment.  

We also solidified our provider schedule to ensure we have general surgery outreach services for the next several years in Sheldon. In addition, we added another orthopedic surgery option for patients. Being able to provide services like these in rural Iowa allows our patients to access quality health care close to home instead of traveling to a larger hospital. 

2) What are you most looking forward to or hopeful about for your organization in the coming year? 

We continue to recruit for a permanent general surgeon who will provide coverage in Sheldon fulltime and are updating our surgical equipment. We are also recruiting another family medicine provider who is dual trained in obstetrics.