In an era where healthcare is increasingly shaped by corporate consolidations, shifting payment models, and the push for greater efficiency, one model continues to stand apart: physician-led governance.
At BayCare Clinic, we have embraced this model not as a trend, but as a foundational principle. As the largest physician-owned specialty care clinic in northeastern Wisconsin, our nearly 250 subspecialist physicians and advanced practice providers do more than deliver exceptional care—they lead, govern, and shape the future of our organization. This direct alignment between clinical expertise and strategic direction enables us to remain deeply accountable to our patients, our colleagues, and our communities.
As Chair of the Board of Aurora BayCare Medical Center, I have seen the value of this model firsthand. Together with Advocate Health, BayCare Clinic co-owns and operates this thriving tertiary care hospital and Level II Trauma Center delivering big-city medicine in our small-town communities. Our partnership blends the innovation and infrastructure of a major health system with the local leadership and agility of a physician group.
What sets BayCare Clinic apart is both our structure and our culture. We’ve built a model that attracts like-minded specialists—physicians who want a stake in their work and autonomy in their practice. These clinicians come from across the country, drawn by the rare opportunity to shape their own future while practicing cutting-edge medicine in a collaborative, physician-led environment.
Our 1,000-strong workforce serves patients across 10 communities in northeastern Wisconsin, delivering complex, high-acuity care that’s often only available in academic medical centers. We continue to raise the bar for subspecialty care in our region. Aurora BayCare Medical Center is home to a Certified Primary Stroke Program, advanced neurosurgical services, and innovative orthopedic procedures that include complicated joint revisions and advanced sports medicine interventions. Our high-risk breast program, led by surgical and oncologic subspecialists, further reinforces our commitment to delivering comprehensive, state-of-the-art care close to home.
Perhaps the greatest testament to our model is how we respond in moments of disruption. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, our physician-led organization leaned into the collective expertise of over 100 surgeons, anesthesiologists, and administrative leaders. Together, we rapidly designed and implemented COVID-negative surgical pathways that brought back elective procedures at our hospitals and ambulatory centers five to six weeks ahead of statewide benchmarks. These protocols, rooted in innovation and clinical insight, are still in use today and have significantly reduced infection exposure among our most vulnerable patients.
More recently, during the national IV fluid shortage, our clinical teams developed protocols to eliminate the use of IV fluids for select low-risk elective procedures. Thus again demonstrating our ability to innovate quickly without compromising safety or quality.
These examples underscore the advantage of a physician-governed model. Our leaders are the very people caring for patients each day. They understand the stakes, the urgency, and the nuances that drive healthcare delivery. Innovation matters, but in times of crisis, the speed of innovation can be just as critical as the breakthrough itself.
A Model for Mid-Sized Markets
An often-overlooked advantage of the BayCare model is its success in attracting and retaining clinical talent in mid-sized cities—places where physician recruitment has traditionally been a significant hurdle. Green Bay may not be the first destination many specialists envision, but our physician-led structure, partnership model, and culture of autonomy have turned it into a magnet for top-tier clinicians.
By offering physicians a clear path to ownership, influence over practice patterns, and control over their schedules, we provide an environment that values professional fulfillment and work-life integration. In a national environment defined by burnout, bureaucracy, and top-down mandates, this sense of ownership is not just attractive, it’s transformative.
Our shared governance with Advocate Health at Aurora BayCare Medical Center further strengthens this approach. It brings operational discipline, access to broader system resources, and strategic alignment while preserving physician autonomy and frontline insight. It’s a system of checks and balances that keeps care grounded in clinical logic while aligning with the realities of healthcare operations at scale.
This hybrid model—physician-led with system-level support—enables us to deliver tertiary-level care in a community setting, all while navigating the complex realities of labor shortages, evolving regulation, and capital investment demands. And importantly, it ensures that the voice of the physician remains central to how care is designed, delivered, and improved.
BayCare Clinic has not only weathered adversity, we’ve grown stronger through it. With physician leadership at every level, we’ve enhanced access, strengthened our financial footing, and reinvested in people and programs that elevate care.
Physician-led governance is not just an operational framework, it’s a strategic differentiator. It fosters rapid decision-making, empowers those closest to the patient, and ensures that high-quality, high-acuity care remains available in the communities we serve.
As healthcare organizations nationwide search for sustainable models, I believe our story offers a compelling example of what is possible when physicians are not just participants—but partners—in the governance and growth of care delivery.
