Sheridan (Wyo.) Memorial Hospital, an 88-bed acute care facility, will affiliate with Billings (Mont.) Clinic after the Sheridan County Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved an affiliation agreement, The Sheridan Press reported March 4.
The hospital will work with Billings Clinic to create a new nonprofit entity, Sheridan Health, and apply for 501(c)(3) status.
Sheridan Health will have a seven-member board that will serve as the hospital’s local governing body, according to the report. Five members will come from Sheridan and two will represent Billings Clinic, ensuring Sheridan retains voting control.
Under the agreement, the county-appointed Memorial Hospital of Sheridan County Board of Trustees will retain ownership of hospital assets and employees. Those assets and staff will be leased to the newly formed Sheridan Health entity, which will oversee governance, operations, finances and patient care.
Although Sheridan Health will manage day-to-day operations, it will be required to report quarterly to the county board on finances, quality of care, facilities and patient experience.
“We’re resisting private equity and corporate medicine,” Sheridan Memorial Hospital CEO Mike McCafferty told the publication. “We want to retain local governance control, meaning that our doctors and the relationships they have with their patients, the care that they receive is based on that relationship and the judgment of the doctor, not some protocol from Tennessee.”
The agreement also outlines leadership oversight.
If the CEO position becomes vacant, the Sheridan Health board will work with Billings Clinic to determine qualifications and a salary range for the role, according to The Sheridan Press. The next CEO will be a Billings Clinic employee but will primarily report to Sheridan Health for hospital operations.
Sheridan Memorial has been exploring a partnership with Billings Clinic since October. Hospital leaders have emphasized that the arrangement is not a merger or acquisition but an affiliation designed to expand clinical collaboration and operational scale.
Neither Sheridan Memorial nor Billings Clinic responded to Becker’s request for comment.
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