SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — The senior care provider Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society will become part of Dakotas-based Sanford Health sooner than expected.

The society membership and the health network board approved a merger in June. The merger has now received regulatory approval, and the Argus Leader reports the two nonprofits will join effective Nov. 1. The earlier goal had been by the end of January.

The Good Samaritan Society has 200 locations in 24 states. Sanford bills itself as one of the largest health systems in the nation, with 44 hospitals and nearly 300 clinics in nine states and four countries. The two nonprofits together employ about 47,000 workers nationwide.

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