From left, Tim Ridgway, vice president of health affairs and Sanford School of Medicine dean, speaks with medical students including Tanner Smith and Tanner Berg, as well as South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden, at the Canopy by Hilton in downtown Sioux Falls on Aug. 14, 2025. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)
SIOUX FALLS — The University of South Dakota announced Thursday it plans to move the state’s only medical school from Vermillion to Sioux Falls.
Starting in 2027, students will attend temporary locations provided by Sanford Health. USD President Sheila Gestring said the university plans to build a new Sioux Falls facility in seven to 10 years, costing about $150 million. She hopes most of the funding will come from donors.
The medical school has been in Vermillion for 51 years.
Gov. Larry Rhoden, left, and South Dakota Board of Regents President Tim Rave speak in downtown Sioux Falls on Aug. 14, 2025, before the University of South Dakota’s announcement that the state’s only medical school will move to Sioux Falls. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)
The move will increase the school’s competitiveness and improve clinic and research access for beginning medical students, Gestring said. Two of South Dakota’s three major health systems — Sanford and Avera — are based in Sioux Falls, and there is also a Veterans Affairs hospital in the city.
Gov. Larry Rhoden said the move will benefit South Dakota.
“Students standing here with us will have more opportunities for clinical experiences, and they’ll develop closer ties to our South Dakota health systems,” Rhoden said, gesturing to dozens of USD medical students at the announcement. “When they graduate, we should expect to see more of them stay right here in South Dakota.”
Vermillion leaders respond
Vermillion’s population is just under 12,000, making it one of the smallest cities with a medical school in the nation.
There are 57 medical students living in Vermillion, while most other students already commute from Sioux Falls.
It’ll also impact 24 faculty, 15 researchers and 29 staff within the medical school, Gestring told South Dakota Searchlight. About half of the 24 faculty members commute from Sioux Falls. The university will offer others based in Vermillion relocation packages or the opportunity to switch positions within the university.
Vermillion Mayor Jon Cole responded to Searchlight with a written statement.
“The most difficult part of this decision is its impact on the faculty and staff who have built their careers and lives here in Vermillion,” he said. “We recognize the university’s challenging position and understand the factors that led to this choice, but we also know that change is never easy.”
The loss of dozens of students and families from Vermillion will hurt, said City Council President Rich Holland, but the move could open up some needed housing.
“I won’t say I’m looking forward to it, but I understand it,” Holland said in a phone interview. “It’s a shift that needs to be done for the benefit of the students.”
Gov. Larry Rhoden speaks in downtown Sioux Falls on Aug. 14, 2025, at the University of South Dakota’s announcement that the state’s only medical school will move to Sioux Falls. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)
Republican South Dakota state Sen. Sydney Davis, whose district includes Vermillion, said she’s heard some residents say they’re worried the town is losing the university to Sioux Falls. But she said other programs at the Vermillion campus are growing, and the move will provide better efficiencies for the programs already existing on campus.
Gestring said the university doesn’t have plans to wholly relocate any other programs to Sioux Falls. The university has expanded several programs to Sioux Falls to meet workforce needs, including education and nursing, and plans more expansion.
The move to Sioux Falls will open up part of the Lee Medicine Building on the Vermillion campus, which houses the medical school and the School of Health Sciences. University officials plan to move some programs housed in the Akeley-Lawrence Science Center into the vacated space due to structural problems in the center.
The move will allow those programs to grow in the larger space and could benefit the Vermillion community in the future, Gestring said.
“Be patient,” Gestring said. “My hope is that we will replace those 57 students with a whole lot more than 57 students.”
Students react
Some students attending the event were supportive of the move.
Fourth-year medical student Tanner Berg plans to go into anesthesiology and practice in South Dakota. He formerly lived in Vermillion and said it was difficult to find housing.
Vermillion is “isolated” from research and clinicians, he added, and moving to Sioux Falls will improve access and students’ education.
Earlier access to research will improve education as well, said Tim Ridgway, vice president of health affairs and Sanford School of Medicine dean.
The move will allow students to learn from professionals, apply their experience right away and think more critically, he said, which will improve treatment for South Dakotans.
“That’s when they retain the information,” Ridgway said. “That’s when they become true physicians.”
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