Craig Lambrecht, MD, has resigned as CEO of the combined Billings Clinic-Logan Health system, which merged into a nine-hospital entity Sept. 1.
Clint Seger, MD, chief physician executive of the health system and CEO of Billings (Mont.) Clinic, will become co-CEO for the system along with Kevin Abel, president of Logan Health Whitefish and Logan Health Medical Center in Kalispell.
The unified health system has more than 9,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians, and serves an area that comprises Montana, northern Wyoming and the western Dakotas.
"Both Logan Health and Billings Clinic have strong roots across this region," Dr. Lambrecht said in his resignation letter. "As I enter my next chapter, I do not know exactly which pathway I will settle on. I will always remember how invaluable many of the relationships were to me personally."
Board members Craig Bartholomew and Mike Goguen thanked Dr. Lambrecht for his role in bringing the two health systems together, but maintained that there is "much work ahead."
"We are focusing on the strategic benefits of creating an integrated health system, along with working to gain efficiencies to enhance financial performance," the board members said in a March 11 news release shared with Becker's.
As a combined system, Billings Clinic-Logan Health can integrate clinically. Integration teams are identifying operational synergies and opportunities to improve quality, access, coordinated care, and the patient and employee experiences.
The entire integration is expected to take 12 to 24 months.