“Kara has been an invaluable partner in shaping and sustaining our provider governing board. Her expertise, impartiality, and dedication ensure that physician and clinician voices remain central to our decision-making, keeping us focused on governance while strengthening our medical group’s leadership and impact.”

_{Tamara Brown Holsinger, Chief Executive
Providence Medical Group Alaska}

Benefits of a Medical Group Governing Board – A Testimonial

Having a provider board provides a structured framework for decision-making, enhances strategic direction, and ensures accountability while bringing physician and clinician voice to the decision-making table. The diversity of perspectives brought together by board members leads to more informed discussions and robust policies that can drive the medical group’s mission forward.

Physician voice through medical group governance is a priority for the Providence Clinical Network. As said by Rod Hochman, M.D., former Providence president and CEO, “Physicians must be involved in leadership, governance and ownership of medical groups; they are vital to establishing the best path forward.”

For Providence Medical Group (PMG) Alaska, the journey to establish the provider governing board started in 2020. Kara Witalis led initial interviews with our physicians and clinicians, asking questions to determine input around the framework, structure, and the resulting bylaws for the board. The board was established in Spring 2021 and has now matured with membership changes and a growing medical group. One of the significant advantages is the wealth of experience and expertise that a governing board can tap into. Board members intentionally represent the complexity and variety of the medical group; the membership includes advance practice clinicians, physicians, and behavioral health therapists, as well as the various clinic sites. This variety enriches the governance process, enabling the organization to navigate complex challenges effectively.

Kara continues to guide the board to remain true to the intent, purpose, and diversity across specialties and licensure, representing the physician and clinician voice in decisions for the medical group and in an accountability relationship with the medical group chief executive.

The PMG Alaska governing board is an essential part of the leadership team, supporting the local strategy and decisions and sending a board representative to the system level board. It is important to note that the need for Kara’s input did not go away after the board was established, her impartial voice is important as she reminds the board to focus on governance and to leave operations to the operational leadership. She is also there to remind me, as CEO, to bring real decisions to the board, to respect their value, their time, their voice, by bringing the decisions that are worth their consideration and that honor their role in the medical group and continue to establish our path forward as a medical group.

Kara meets with the board chair and vice-chair to discuss meeting agenda’s, she is at board meetings to take minutes and provide guidance as needed, and she provides the meeting minutes and meeting summary after each meeting. In addition, Kara conducts the annual board survey and reviews the results with the board and is available for education topics, as needed.

I am honored to serve with Dr. Jim Barber, DO, the board chair and medical director for Maternal Fetal Medicine. Dr. Barber has this to say about the value of the governing board:

“The combined expertise of healthcare administrators and physicians with direct patient care experience is critical in making strategic decisions for a medical group. The presence of a physician governing board allows front-line physicians to have confidence that their experiences are represented when large decisions, such as the Clinically Integrated Network, are made. This joint decision-making results in strategic decisions that feel relevant to physicians and ultimately improves engagement of physicians and clinicians with the medical group.”

In my experience at PMG AK, having a well-structured governing board has been invaluable. Their guidance and strategic input have helped us improve community reputation, create a unified culture, and increased our ability to recruit physicians and clinicians, while staying true to our mission. The regular meetings allow us to address potential issues proactively, ensuring that we remain aligned with both our short-term objectives and long-term vision. I am honored and proud to serve with this board. They truly are a vital and essential part of the PMG Alaska leadership team. I am grateful to Kara for her investment in setting us up for success at the beginning and her collaboration to keep us on the right track to do our best for our medical group and our community.

I encourage every healthcare organization to consider the benefits of forming a provider governing board to unlock its full potential.

Tamara Brown Holsinger

Chief Executive, Providence Medical Group Alaska

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