Billings Clinic’s 105 patient financial services employees have a new home downtown

Sept. 22--The 105 Billings Clinic employees who submit bills to insurance companies on patients' behalf didn't miss a beat after they moved recently into their new quarters close to the hospital's downtown campus.

When they finished work on a Friday, employees packed their belongings and some of their equipment into moving boxes at their old office on the West End in the former Petro Lewis Building, west of Barnes and Noble.

On Monday, their new home was waiting for them and their desks even sported pictures of their loved ones. The new location is 315 N. 25th St.

"Pictures of family are very important," said Jim Duncan, president of the Billings Clinic Foundation. "I was up there (Wednesday). It looked like they had been there forever."

Billings Clinic leaders pitched in to assign employees their new desks and make sure the new office was all ready for Monday's opening.

"It was a large volume of staff to move," Duncan said. The job was made easier with the help of Billings Transfer.

"It's now just a few blocks to walk to the main campus. They can come for lunch and staff celebrations, so they feel more culturally connected and part of the Billings Clinic family," Duncan said.

Employees who were formerly scattered at three separate work sites are now all together, said Clay Fosjord, Billings Clinic director of patient financial services. The office, on the second floor, is 12,000-13,000 square feet and has its own parking lot. It used to be the former Rocky Mountain Health Network site, which did similar work.

"Employees are excited to be in the downtown area, with its access to cafes and shops," Fosjord said. "A lot of our people walk during their breaks, so they've enjoyed finding out how close it is" to all their favorite haunts, he said.

The central location makes for a speedier morning commute for many employees, Duncan said -- particularly those who come to work from their homes in the Heights.

Being under one roof has other advantages, too. It can bring people together.

Already, employees are discovering "they can walk over to somebody's desk rather than sending them an email," Fosjord noted. "You can feel the work environment improving."

The space "was designed for this kind of business office," Fosjord said. "We're revitalizing what it was meant for. The reason we were able to make the move so quickly is it was a great fit for us."

Mitch Goplen, Billings Clinic's vice president for facilities services, said the new office features an open architectural floor plan and "nice amenities," including a break room that leads to outdoor patios and enough windows to add natural light.

The infusion of 105 workers "helps keep the downtown corridor vibrant, and we are very supportive of that," Duncan said. "You can see how the revitalization of the downtown is alive and well, and that feels very good to us."

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