FARGO, N.D. (AP) — Dakotas-based Sanford Health has reached a six-month agreement to run a county-owned hospital and clinics in Minnesota’s Clearwater County.

The Grand Forks Herald reports that the County Commission will retain ownership of the Clearwater Health Services facilities, which it has been trying to sell because they are not making money. A deal to sell to a Grand Forks group fell through earlier this year.

Sanford Health is based in Fargo, N.D., and Sioux Falls, S.D., after the merger of two health systems in the Dakotas in 2009. It has a presence in eight states, including Minnesota, where it recently took over a Bemidji-based hospital system that serves an area with about 100,000 people.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)