Billings Clinic and Logan Health announced that they will officially combine into a single, independent health system on Sept. 1, 2023. The regulatory review of the proposed combination of the two organizations has passed.

In February, Billings Clinic and Logan Health announced a signed letter of intent to combine into an independent, Montana-based health system. By uniting the two organizations, they can be stronger together and better positioned to adapt to the rapidly changing health care environment, said Billings Clinic CEO Clint Seger, MD. They intend to sustain and grow services to meet the needs of Montana and Wyoming families.

 “Billings Clinic and Logan Health have a shared commitment to the people of Montana and Wyoming,” said Dr. Seger. “We are alike in many ways and have a collective vision for what we can do together to close care gaps, recruit and retain talent, develop solutions to meet patient needs and advance our legacies of clinical excellence and serving our communities. We will be focused on connecting the rural communities between us and around us to improve care coordination while striving to keep care as locally as possible.”

A new, combined health system will provide the capacity to work together to integrate and magnify opportunities to serve their communities, with a focus on:

Both Logan Health and Billings Clinic have strong presences throughout the broad geographic areas they serve thanks to innovative and effective approaches to providing care to people across Montana and Wyoming. Combined, the two organizations include:

* 9,000 employees

* 3,000 employees at affiliated organizations

* 1,200 physicians and advanced practice providers

* 1,000 hospital beds

* 600 long-term care and assisted living beds

* 80 clinical specialties

* 2,750,000 annual clinic visits

* 90,000 surgeries performed annually

* 3,500 annual air ambulance and EMS transports

* 200,000 annual Emergency Department visits

The newly combined organization will be governed by a 10-member board, composed of five individuals from the current Billings Clinic Board and five from the current Logan Health Board. The board chair will be from Billings Clinic and the Vice Chair from Logan Health.  Logan Health President and CEO Craig Lambrecht, MD will serve as Chief Executive Officer, and Billings Clinic CEO Clint Seger, MD will serve as Chief Physician Executive.

Both Drs. Lambrecht and Seger have deep roots in the Montana-Wyoming region.

Dr. Lambrecht is an Emergency Medicine physician whose great grandfather homesteaded near Havre, Montana. He is a 4th generation Montanan with a working cattle ranch in eastern Montana.  He brings many years of physician CEO experience to the new health system. 

Dr. Seger, a Family Medicine physician, grew up in Buffalo, Wyoming, and practiced as a hospitalist physician in Cody, Wyoming, before moving into leadership roles at Billings Clinic. Seger views partnerships with rural communities and hospitals as a critical part of making sure that people don’t have to travel far for health care, especially in Montana and Wyoming where local critical access hospitals are an important point of care. He brings his knowledge of clinical issues and many years of experience in rural health care to his new role.

While there will be minimal changes in how each organization operates on day one, integration teams will continue work to unify the two organizations, identifying operational synergies and opportunities to improve quality, access, coordinated care, patient experience, employee experience and provider experience. This integration work is expected to take 12-24 months.

“I am confident that an independent, Montana-based health system will have a significant positive impact on our region,” said Dr. Lambrecht. “By coming together, our combined organization will continue to be our region’s leader in rural health, addressing health equity and disparities, enhancing access to a broader range of services, and improving health and well-being of our communities.”

Logan Health is not-for-profit, 590-bed health system in Montana. While the main medical campus is located in Flathead County, Logan Health draws from a total service area covering 20 counties, nearly 50,000 square miles and a population of nearly 700,000. The health system consists of six hospitals, more than 68 provider clinics and a host of other health care services, including the nation’s first rural air ambulance service (A.L.E.R.T.), which it has maintained for more than 40 years. Logan Health employs more than 4,500 physicians, nurses, health care professionals and support staff. Founded in 1910, Logan Health has provided care for more than 100 years to the communities it serves.

Billings Clinic is Montana’s largest independent health system, serving Montana, Wyoming and the western Dakotas. A not-for-profit organization led by a physician CEO, Billings Clinic is governed by a board of community members and physicians. At its core, Billings Clinic is a physician-led, integrated multispecialty group practice with a 336-bed hospital and a Level II trauma center. As a health system Billings Clinic has more than 20 regional partnerships, including management agreements with 18 Critical Access Hospitals in Montana and Wyoming and one outpatient clinic, and four regional branch clinics. Billings Clinic is the largest trauma center and the first established and longest standing ACS- COT continually accredited trauma center in the state of Montana, and the only Comprehensive Stroke Center in Montana and Wyoming. Billings Clinic has more than 4,500 employees, including nearly 600 physicians and advanced practitioners offering more than 80 specialties. Billings Clinic is the first Magnet-designated health care organization in Montana and a member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network.