Billings Clinic has officially announced that Dr. Scott Ellner will be taking on the role of Billings Clinic CEO. Dr. Ellner comes to Billings from Colorado, where he has been serving as the Group President and CEO of Centura Health Physician Group. While there, he oversaw 900 physicians as part of Centura’s 17-hospital and 235-clinic system.
Dr. Ellner gained his medical degree at Western University of Health Science and did his residency in general surgery at the University of California San Diego. After his residency, he then took on an advanced fellowship in minimally invasive surgery at the University of Connecticut. Dr. Ellner first heard of Billings Clinic a decade ago after a fellowship with the American Hospital Association focusing on patient safety and leadership. Billings Clinic was named one of the safest hospitals in the country at the time. “For me, that’s the pinnacle,” Dr. Ellner said. “To go to an organization that is known for doing the right thing for its patients.”
Ellner was chosen after a six month nationwide search by the Billings Clinic board of directors. It normally takes around a year to fill the CEO position, but the board felt it was important to expedite the process. Joy Ott, the chair of the board at Billings Clinic, said, “We felt it was very important to get a leader in here so that we didn’t miss a beat. We have a lot of exciting things on the plate. We’re getting ready to enter into Bozeman. We have a big regional footprint. We really wanted to make sure we instilled a sense of urgency but we wanted to do a quality job. And I think we accomplished our mission.”
