BayCare Clinic to celebrate 25-year anniversary

Jennifer Parmley

Contributor

July 12, 2023

NORTHEAST WISCONSIN – In 1998, a handful of area medical professionals began to explore a new model for healthcare.

Envisioning a different healthcare landscape, the group formed BayCare Health Systems.

In 1999, they formed BayCare Clinic, a physician-owned, specialty-care clinic comprised of 65 physicians and six advanced practice practitioners in total.

“It was truly the original healthcare startup in Green Bay,” Mike Schmidt, the organization’s marketing and business development director, said.

Since then, Schmidt said BayCare Clinic has grown exponentially. 

Today, it offers expertise in more than 20 specialties, with nearly 150 physicians serving in 16 area communities, and is a joint partnership with Aurora BayCare Medical Center.

As the organization approaches its 25-year anniversary, BayCare’s 900-plus employees – many who have been there since the beginning – are taking a moment to reflect on the last quarter century.

Schmidt, who was hired as an administrative assistant right out of college 20 years ago, said the number of loyal employees who have called BayCare Clinic home for so many years can be attributed to many things.

“I think it speaks to quality in leadership, and we promote growth from within,” he said.

Ten clinic employees are celebrating their 25th anniversary this year, with another 42 hitting the milestone in 2024. 

All about the culture
Robin Arveson, an accounts payable manager in the payroll department, has been with BayCare since 1998 and said the BayCare culture keeps her going from day to day. 

Robin Arveson

“Being here during the start-up and watching how we’ve grown over the years, it’s a great feeling to think of how far we’ve come,” she said. “BayCare has always been supportive and encouraging to me. I’ve worked with some great people these last 25 years.”  

Arveson said she also thinks senior leadership is a major force in employee loyalty and is how it differentiates itself from other area clinics. 

“Our physicians are invested and want the best for their patients,” she said.

Kim Edwards, a senior coding manager in the coding department, said she enjoys BayCare’s positive, collaborative work environment.  

“There has been a tremendous amount of growth since I started with the company 25 years ago, but it is still relatively small in contrast to other health systems,” she said.

Edwards said this allows her to understand a little bit about each aspect of the business and work with people in all departments.

Kim Edwards

“Understanding how my team fits in the patient care continuum and how our work impacts other departments helps me be more effective in my role for the benefit of the company and our patients,” she said.

Steady growth
Arveson and Edwards both said they’ve seen a lot of changes in the last 25 years – both with the addition of services and clinics, and the procedures, processes and tools they use to do their jobs. 

“When I started with BayCare, there were maybe a dozen employees,” Arveson said. “In 1999, the clinics were added. We processed payroll using paper timesheets and invoices for accounts payable were manually distributed for approval prior to payment.” 

They have since transitioned to electronic timesheets and electronic document imaging for invoice approval, she said. 

In addition to the increased number of providers and specialties, Edwards said, there has also been an expansion of services to other areas outside of Green Bay.

Many technological aspects – including “procedures, devices, medications, etc. that provide patients with more treatment options and electronic health records, which allows patients and their care team improved access to their health information” – have also expanded and evolved.

Broad reach
BayCare Clinic serves patients at several facilities throughout Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Schmidt said it has steadily grown since opening.

By 2010, BayCare Clinic employed 100 physicians and 53 advanced practice practitioners.

Those numbers grew to 146 physicians and 114 advanced practice practitioners by 2022.

The clinic’s corporate offices saw changes as well.

After selling the BayCare Clinic Corporate Office building in downtown Green Bay, five administrative departments moved to the headquarters building at 1035 Kepler Dr. on Green Bay’s east side, housing all corporate staff members and teams at one location.

BayCare Clinic also built its first stand-alone clinic in Manitowoc, which opened in October 2021 at 1111 Bayshore Dr. 

The 46,000-square-foot Lakeside Campus houses Orthopedics & Sports Medicine BayCare Clinic, BayCare Clinic Pain & Rehab Medicine, BayCare Clinic Neurological Surgeons, Aurora BayCare Urological Surgeons and Aurora Health Care Rehabilitation Services.

The BayCare Clinic Foundation – a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that aims to provide people with improved health and livelihood – supports a variety of causes.

Which Schmidt said includes the clinic’s community-enriching events and initiatives focused on health and wellness issues, for example, and scholarships to educational institutions are priorities.

“I think that entrepreneurial spirit to keep growing throughout the area is attractive to people,” he said.

Schmidt said the goal of allowing patients to receive care in their hometowns drives them day to day, as well as their expansion efforts.

Mike Schmidt

Recruiting and retaining physicians and employees is also a priority of the clinic, something Schmidt said has been getting easier each year. 

“Green Bay is more than the ‘Frozen Tundra,’” he said. “It’s more attractive to live here than it was years ago. Our schools and quality of life are great, you get all four seasons and being named No. 1 (in U.S. News’ Best Places to Live rankings) also helps. So, we want to continue to grow and attract talent.”

Edwards said one of the differences between BayCare Clinic and other clinics in the area is its physician-ownership structure and focus on specialty care.  

“Our providers are invested and involved in every aspect of the clinic with the ultimate goal of providing patients with the highest quality care and best possible experience,” she said. 

A party at the Resch Expo will be held for employees and their guests to help celebrate the half-century milestone in early 2024.

“It will be a great avenue to show off the past, present and future of BayCare Clinic,” Schmidt said.