Clinician Experience

Joshua Crabtree, MD, MBA, serves as the chief physician of Sanford Health Clinic and Sanford World Clinic. In this role, he oversees clinician professional practice, recruitment and retention, operations, and clinician well-being.

Dr. Crabtree joined Sanford Health in 2002 as a family medicine physician in Luverne, Minn. He was previously executive vice president of clinic operations before transitioning to vice president of Sanford Clinic for the Sioux Falls market in 2019.

Born and raised in Minnesota, he graduated from the University of Minnesota School of Medicine and completed his residency in family medicine at Duluth Family Medicine Residency in northern Minnesota. He holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He currently serves on the board of directors for the Sioux Falls Family Practice Residency at the Center for Family Medicine and the Sanford Health Foundation.

Dr. Crabtree and his wife, Emily, live in Luverne. They have three adult children, one daughter-in-law and one grandson.

Jeremy Cauwels, MD, FACP, FHM, serves as Sanford Health’s chief medical officer. In this role, he represents physician interests to the executive leadership team and Board of Trustees. He also chairs the quality cabinet, champions the system’s effort to become a highly reliable organization and oversees enterprise aspects of the medical staff.

Before he was appointed chief medical officer in 2021, Dr. Cauwels led safety, quality and patient experience as senior vice president of quality. He also served as vice president and chief medical officer for Sanford Health Plan. Cauwels started with Sanford Health as a hospitalist in Sioux Falls in 2006, was promoted to director of the group and eventually became Sanford USD Medical Center’s chief of staff.

His extensive leadership background in quality and safety makes Dr. Cauwels a strong champion for the Sanford Accountability for Excellence (SAFE) program, a collective commitment to safety and reliability. The program guides Sanford employees toward doing the right thing every time in every interaction and encourages both employees and patients to speak up for safety. Dr. Cauwels ensures that the SAFE program has the operational, financial and leadership support necessary for this work.

Dr. Cauwels is also interested in health care disparities and improving access to quality care, particularly in rural geographies and mental health specialties. He believes that every person deserves access to the right care at the right time in the place they need it, and this view was a powerful influence in developing Sanford Health’s drive to become the premier rural health system in the U.S.

Born in South Dakota and raised in northwest Iowa, Dr. Cauwels has bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and biology from the University of Northern Iowa and a medical degree from the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. He completed his residency and a chief resident year at the University of Kansas in Kansas City, Kansas. Cauwels is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and the Society of Hospital Medicine.

Cauwels and his wife, Teresa, live in Sioux Falls with their three children.

Michael LeBeau, MD, began his career at Sanford Health as a nephrologist more than 10 years ago and is now the senior vice president of health services operations. Prior to his current role, he served on the Sanford Health Board of Trustees, as vice president of clinics, and as president and CEO of the Bismarck region.

A graduate of the University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences, LeBeau completed his residency in internal medicine at Gunderson Lutheran Medical Foundation in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He also completed a nephrology fellowship at the University of Iowa and is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine. He currently serves on the University of North Dakota Foundation Board of Directors and Bismarck State College Foundation Board.

LeBeau and his wife, Michelle, have five children.

Michael Wilde, MD, is the chief physician for Sanford Health in Sioux Falls and a hospitalist at Sanford USD Medical Center. Dr. Wilde is also a clinical professor at the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine.

Steven Briggs, MD, is the chief physician for Sanford Health in Fargo.

Mubashir Badar, MD, is the chief physician for Sanford Health’s Bismarck region. He oversees the administrative and operational supervision of physicians and APPs. 

He also cares for hospitalized patients at the Sanford Medical Center – Bismarck.

Dr. Badar holds and has held many physician leadership positions. His peers elected him as chair of the region’s Physician Executive Council after he previously served as vice chair and interim chief of staff. He has also led the hospitalist group and medicine service line.

Erica Schipper, MD, is the chief medical officer for Sanford Heath in Sioux Falls and a physician in obstetrics and gynecology.

Deb Hickman, APRN-CNP, is the  APP Director of Clinician Experience for Sanford Health in Sioux Falls.

Andy Burgard, MD, is the chief medical officer for Sanford Health in Fargo.

Sara Zoelle, MD, is the vice president medical officer for the Sioux Falls Network region and a family medicine physician with a focus on women's health services.

Joseph Segeleon is the vice president medical officer for Sanford Children's Hospital in Sioux Falls and a longtime specialist in pediatric critical care.

Charles Breen, MD, is the vice president medical officer for the Fargo region and a family medicine physician. Dr. Breen also serves as an associate professor at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences.

Jacob Fish is the medical officer for Sanford Children's Hospital in Fargo and a practicing pediatric hospitalist.

Heather Spies, MD, MBA, FACOG, is the clinician wellbeing officer of clinician experience and well-being at Sanford Health. She practices obstetrics and gynecology and specializes in women’s health, prenatal care and pregnancy care. Dr. Spies also serves as a clinical professor at the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine.

As Sanford Health’s enterprise director of clinician experience, Aaste Campbell is responsible for creating clinician orientation and onboarding content and overseeing the team that carries out these programs. She is the co-administrator of RISES, Sanford Health’s clinician leadership program. Additionally, Campbell is responsible for developing and overseeing retention and recognition strategies for clinician teams across the region.

Campbell joined Sanford Health in 1999 as a service area assistant. She has held several roles focused on supporting Sanford Health’s team of clinicians throughout her career, most recently serving as the director of clinician experience in Fargo before moving into her current role in 2017. She has developed and expanded well-being strategies and programs for clinicians across the enterprise. Many of the programs Campbell helped to develop supported clinicians throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, including the Clinician Well-being Council.

Campbell holds a bachelor’s degree from North Dakota State University and a master’s degree in management from the University of Mary.

She resides in Fargo with her husband, John, and has two children and three grandchildren.