Billings (Mont.) Clinic and Kalispell, Mont.-based Logan Health officially merged Sept. 1, with attention now turning to implementing a cohesive integration plan, according to the Daily Inter Lake.
Both organizations will map out integration blueprints this week, with separate workgroups for people, patients, integration, finance, information technology, compliance, philanthropy and education/research, according to the report.
Integration teams are identifying opportunities to improve quality, access, coordinated care, patient experience, employee experience and provider experience. This integration is expected to take 12 to 24 months.
Craig Lambrecht, MD, president and CEO of Logan Health, is serving as CEO of the combined system, and Billings CEO Clint Seger, MD, was named chief physician executive.
In a Sept. 1 email to employees, Dr. Lambrecht said that staff will benefit from the scale of the combined system, which will create more opportunities through sharing best practices, improving quality and safety and "supporting initiatives that neither organization could support on its own," according to the Daily Inter Lake.
Brad Schipper, COO of Logan Health, is serving as COO of the combined system. Ellen Layton, chief legal officer for Billings Clinic, was appointed chief administrative officer of the merged entity, while Cole Turner, CFO of Logan Health, will serve in the same capacity with the new health system.
The newly combined system will be governed by a 10-member board, with five individuals from Billings Clinic's board and five from Logan Health's board.