CHI St. Alexius Health welcomes media professionals to work with the media relations team to arrange interviews and stories and to visit the facilities. If you are a member of the media and would like to speak to a member of our media relations team, please click here.
The safety of our visitors, patients, employees, and physicians is our highest priority. Check back to this page for updates with the latest visitor restrictions for the different locations.
Health benefits of flowers and nature
We didn’t have a lot of April showers so May flowers had to wait a little longer this year. But now as we get into summer more people are out and about getting some fresh air and seeing the beautiful blooms. In 2019 Bismarck Parks and Rec planted more than 4 thousand flowers and 100 trees around town. They’re a little behind this year and planting is still in progress, but summertime happiness is already blooming.
Raising Our Voice for Racial Justice and Health Equity
June 1, 2020
CommonSpirit Health CEOs Lloyd H. Dean and Kevin E. Lofton shared the following message in response to protests that have followed the killing of George Floyd.
As the leaders of an organization whose reason for existence is health, we are part of a healing ministry of 150,000 people dedicated to human life, liberty and justice. We are united in a belief in the inherent dignity of all people. This transcends race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin or economic status.
As healers, we cannot watch the killing of George Floyd and the violence that has erupted during otherwise peaceful protests in response without deep sadness. However, having seen the impacts of systemic racism in healthcare for decades, these recent events sharpen our resolve to demand justice, truth and dignity for all.
In April, The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust announced a multimillion-dollar effort to save the lives of COVID-19 patients and to protect the frontline healthcare workers caring for them. The grant funded the purchase of 11 LUCAS mechanical chest compression devices for CHI St. Alexius Health located in Bismarck, Garrison, Turtle Lake, Carrington, Dickinson, and Williston.
A total of $4,711,481 in funding will be distributed across five upper-midwestern states to pay for 367 LUCAS mechanical CPR devices to be deployed to hospitals caring for patients during the pandemic and beyond.
“These devices are vital because we don’t want frontline healthcare workers to choose between trying to save a patient or risking exposure to themselves and others to the Coronavirus,” said Walter Panzirer, a trustee for the Helmsley Charitable Trust. “LUCAS has been a proven, effective tool in saving lives during cardiac arrest, and having more of them available during this pandemic will save even more lives, including those of the doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers.”
CHI St. Alexius Health Resumes Elective Procedures and Services
CHI St. Alexius Health facilities have resumed some elective procedures and services. Like most hospitals, CHI St. Alexius Health stopped performing these procedures to prepare for a surge of COVID-19 patients and ensure we could provide these patients with the safest care. In taking the step to resume some procedures, CHI St. Alexius Health is using criteria that is based on guidance from the CDC, US Surgeon General, American Hospital Association, and the leading national associations of nurses, surgeons, and anesthesiologists.
Visit for more information about services, visitation restrictions or to learn about elective procedure/surgery precautions available in your community near you.
Nurses - the heart of health care
Now, more than ever, is a time to recognize all nurses. Nurses walk alongside other people during moments of vulnerability. This requires a special type of selflessness and strength. We are proud of all our nurses working on the front lines during this time.
We teamed up with The Bismarck Tribune to sponsor an event for our nurses. Due to the COVID-19 situation, the luncheon event to recognize the winners was cancelled. The Tribune made the event virtual for everyone to enjoy.
Layoffs? Not at CHI St. Alexius
Layoffs and furloughs have been happening at hospitals locally and nationally. Since COVID-19, nurses and other hospital staff - those who may not be on the front lines, but work in clinics or elective surgeries, for example - simply have little to no work these days. But a hospital in Bismarck has prided itself on not having to furlough one single employee during this pandemic.
Here’s how hundreds of workers are staying on the payroll. t’s not exactly what they went to college for, but here at CHI St. Alexius, some hundreds of nurses, OR workers, rehab therapists, even Rad Techs, are finding themselves in new roles. The hospital has set up what’s called a “labor pool.”
CHI St. Alexius Health Consistently Ranked Safest Hospital
CHI St. Alexius Health Bismarck has received the highest safety rating in the region by the Leapfrog Group for spring 2020. The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization committed to improving health care quality and safety.
“The Leapfrog Group Hospital Safety Award recognizes how safe CHI St. Alexius Health keeps patients from errors, injuries, accidents and infections. We are proud to consistently receive this high-grade rating of a ‘B’ from The Leapfrog Group,” said Kurt Schley, CHI St. Alexius Health Bismarck President. “Our medical staff, associates and key partners continue to be recognized nationally for their hard work and dedication to ensure safe, high quality care for every patient we serve.”
