Lambrecht resigns as CEO of Logan Health-Billings Clinic

Logan Health-Billings Clinic CEO Craig Lambrecht resigned Monday, making way for new co-leadership roles atop the state’s largest hospital system.

Lambrecht had led the Kalispell-based hospital system for five years. When Billings Clinic and Logan Health formally merged last September, he was named CEO of the combined entity. 

In a statement, Lambrecht did not indicate a reason for stepping down.

“It has been my distinct privilege to work with staff in service to patients and their families,” Lambrecht said in a letter announcing his resignation. “Both Logan Health and Billings Clinic have strong roots across this region. 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.”

With Lambrecht's departure, the combined system’s chief physician executive and Billings Clinic CEO Clint Seger will become co-CEO alongside Kevin Abel, president of Logan Health Medical Center and Logan Health Whitefish.

Logan Health-Billings Clinic board members Craig Bartholomew of Billings and Mike Goguen of Whitefish addressed the leadership change in a statement.

“We thank Dr. Lambrecht for his role in bringing our two organizations together," they stated. "Our unified health system will serve the needs of our patients, our staff and our communities across Montana and Wyoming for decades to come. We have much work ahead of us. We are focusing on the strategic benefits of creating an integrated health system, along with working to gain efficiencies to enhance financial performance.”

Stepping into the co-CEO role, Abel brings over 25 years of health care leadership with credentials as a certified public accountant, according to a media release from Billings Clinic. Prior to his role as president of Logan Health Medical Center and Logan Health Whitefish, he was the CEO of Logan Health Whitefish, formerly North Valley Hospital. 

Seger is a board-certified family medicine physician who has been with Billings Clinic for 16 years, serving first as a family medicine physician and hospitalist, then serving as Billings Clinic’s regional chief medical officer before being named as the CEO of Billings Clinic and then the Chief Physician Executive of the combined health system.

LAMBRECHT CAME to Logan Health, then Kalispell Regional Healthcare, in 2019 to replace Pam Robertson. Prior to his arrival, he was the president of Sanford West, a member of the Sanford Health System.

During his tenure at Logan Health the hospital system rebranded and expanded its reach by absorbing hospitals along Montana’s Hi-Line. Logan Health Children's also opened following his arrival.

Lambrecht oversaw the hospital system during the challenges of Covid-19 that saw the valley's largest employer furlough more than 600 staff members and cut pay for physicians and executives.

Contention arose during union negotiations with Kalispell Regional Healthcare nurses, which included a three-day strike in 2021. The union and administration reached a deal later that fall.

Other challenges arose with data breaches at the hospital system in 2019 and 2021.

Lambrecht and Seger worked together on the eventual hospital system merger effort. In an interview last year, Lambrecht said combining the two hospitals would offer patients better options for care.

“There will be more access; there will be more technology available; there’s going to be better coordination of care,” he said.

The Logan Health network includes the main campus in Kalispell and Logan Health Whitefish, as well as four other hospitals and more than 68 provider clinics. The organization, formerly known as Kalispell Regional Healthcare, employs more than 4,500 clinical and nonclinical workers across its properties.

Billings Clinic is Montana’s largest independent health system, according to the press release. The system is affiliated with 18 hospitals and clinics in Montana and Wyoming, with more than 4,700 employees.

    Kevin Abel is the CEO of North Valley Hospital. (Heidi Desch/Whitefish Pilot)