Good Samaritan celebrates merger with ice cream and pie

A large crowd gathered on one of the coldest weeks of the year last Friday to enjoy pie and ice cream at the Good Samaritan Society-Fontanelle to celebrate the facility’s recent merging with Sanford Health.

Good Samaritan made a recent announcement that they were merging with Sanford, which is based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and boasts that it is the largest rural nonprofit healthcare system in the nation, offering primary and specialty care and more to its patients.

Mallory Wheatley, Administrator of Good Samaritan Society-Fontanelle; Amanda Benton, Activities Director and Diane Allsup, Director of Nursing, spoke with the Fontanelle Observer and Adair County Free Press during the pie and ice cream social on the Free Press’ Friday Facebook Live video that is still available online.

“We expect things will remain mostly the same for us here in the long term care side of it,” said Allsup, who oversees the care of those in the 46-bed facility on the north edge of Fontanelle. “There will be more resources available to us as far as the educational piece, the processes and how that relates back to our residents here. It’ll really just be more resources for us at this point.”

She’s learned a lot about Sanford Health in the last month or so as this change has come down the pike, and Wheatley praised Sanford for the type of organization it is and what that means for residents in Fontanelle and those who provide them care.

“Sanford’s a really good organization, as is Good Sam. So, when you put those two entities together, we’ll be found to be successful too,” Wheatley said. “To put two [big organizations] together will be huge. We have great knowledge we can tap into and great leaders who will take us [to the next level].”

Benton, just prior to the ice cream and pie social, had led a rousing game of Bingo for Good Samaritan residents. She’s grateful for the family atmosphere at Fontanelle’s facility and doesn’t see that changing anytime soon.

“We all feel like family here and as a team we’re family. We love having Mallory on board, she has been wonderful,” Benton said. “In the Activities Department, we’re planning our big Valentine’s Day party February 14. With our merger, I’m excited for the resources we’ll have and for us to advance further