Billings Clinic Affiliation/Collaboration

Commonly Asked Questions

April 4, 2013

What are the benefits of shared governance between Billings Clinic and GMC?

It is likely Billings Clinic (BC) could possibly have 2 seats out of 11 on the GMC Board of Directors; having a larger organization backing and expertise is very helpful. However, this would not cause GMC to lose local control, governance or decision making.

What are the benefits of Billings Clinic employing GMC's Chief Executive Officer (CEO)?

Billings Clinic employing the CEO would create consistent strategic planning and alignment of priorities with an emphasis on leadership training and development. All CEOs of affiliates of BC are employed by BC; this is best practice and has had only positive outcomes from this model. Although BC employs the CEO, the GMC Board of Directors would have full discretion as to the fit and hire of the CEO and he/she would be accountable to the GMC Board of Directors.

What are the benefits of branding/name change with Billings Clinic?

Although no decision has been confirmed on branding/name change, GMC would consider a name change to gain the most out of affiliation. We are sensitive to the loyalty of the GMC name and intend to work with Billings Clinic to create a name that retains our historical identity while also recognizing our connection to Billings Clinic. The probable resources that BC can provide for our patients locally is tremendous, and a name change can only strengthen GMC's ability to provide quality patient care. Also, affiliation with BC would bring recruitment to a new level; what GMC could offer to new recruits could be substantial compared to GMC alone. In addition, GMC would not lose its identity to BC; GMC is a community hospital and will continue to be "your" community hospital.

Would Billings Clinic employ GMC's medical providers?

We believe building a formal relationship structure between the Billings Clinic providers and our medical staff may hold a lot of potential benefit for our providers and patients. Employment of our entire medical staff is not part of our initial collaboration, but we plan on going discussion of models and strategies on how best to align our medical staffs to mutual benefit.