2012 Billings Clinic Classic

The legendary Four Tops will headline the 2012 Classic on Saturday, August 25, 2012, at the Alberta Bair Theater. Everyone knows the classic Motown sound of the Four Tops. With 24 Top 40 hits including “I Can't Help Myself” (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch), “Baby I Need Your Loving”, and “Reach Out I’ll Be There”, the theater will be electric. The show features a nine-piece horn section and songs that people of every generation know by heart.

Opening for the Four Tops will be the amazing harmonies of Under the Streetlamp featuring the cast of the Tony Award winning musical Jersey Boys. Decked out in shiny suits, the Under the Streetlamp foursome sings American hit music from the 50's, 60's and 70's.

The 2012 Classic will support Billings Clinics’ efforts as a premier destination center for cardiovascular care for the region. The Billings Clinic Cardiovascular Care Team brings together services for prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of heart disease. The Classic will focus on the critical importance of swift diagnosis and treatment of chest pain through our nationally recognized program that represents the gold standard in the treatment of chest pain. As the only Accredited Chest Pain Center in the region, patients are treated by a team of Billings Clinic emergency department physicians, cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons and hospital medicine specialists working together with the dedicated care team to provide the best outcomes possible. Funds raised at this year’s Classic will be used for the construction of a dedicated Cardiac Center to be located within our downtown multispecialty Clinic and a new inpatient cardiac care unit designed specifically for the needs of patients with cardiovascular disease.

The Classic is the major annual fundraising event for Billings Clinic. Other Classic events feature a Women’s Golf Tournament on August 17 and Open Golf Tournaments at the Powder Horn Golf Club in Sheridan, WY, on August 23, the Briarwood Country Club on August 24, and the Laurel Golf Club on August 24.

Over the years, the Classic has benefited the following initiatives:

  2010 - Pediatric Care

(Final numbers raised are pending. $400,000  from the Charles M. Bair Memorial Trust)

Classic dollars will help support the construction of a dedicated inpatient unit specifically designed to care for children ages 0-18 hospitalized at Billings Clinic.

  2009 - Our Mother and Newborn Care Programs

($985,000 raised, $425,000 at the Classic and $560,000 from the Charles M. Bair Memorial Trust.)

Funds will benefit Billings Clinic programs for the mother/newborn care including our Family Birth Center, Maternal-Fetal Medicine program and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Billings Clinic employees and patients are already able to experience our NICU remodel and new newborn hearing quipment and supplies that were funded by Classic dollars.

  2008 - Excellence in Health Care Education

($950,000 raised, $430,000 net at the Classic and $520,000 from the Charles M. Bair Memorial Trust.)

Funds were used to grow our Friends of Nursing endowment that provides scholarships to caregivers at Billings Clinic to pursue advanced training and knowledge

Funds were also used to create innovative educational experiences such as simulation labs that allow nurses and other staff a setting to apply new skills.

  2007 - Critical Care Services

($1,020,000 raised, $420,000 net at the Classic and $600,000 grant from the Charles M. Bair Memorial Trust.)

Purchase equipment such as EEG monitors, which assists in the care of patients with neurological symptoms. Funds also help our med-flight air ambulance that transports critically ill patients in the region to Billings Clinic or other health care facilities, such as Mayo Clinic.

  2006 - Billings Clinic Diabetes Program and Endowment

($814,500 raised, includes $315,400 (net) raised at the Classic, and a $500,000 grant form the Charles M. Bair Memorial Trust.)

  2005 - Billings Clinic Neurosciences Department Endowment

($1.2 million raised, includes $357,000 (net) raised at the Classic, $150,000 donated by Mr. and Mrs. Norman Sulenes, and a $700,000 grant from the Charles M. Bair Memorial Trust.)

• Expand the Services of the Neurosciences Center
• Build the operating room "of the future" so that tumors and other conditions can be treated with minimal disturbance to surrounding brain tissue, leading to fewer complications.
• Upgrade the high precision targeting system for stereotactic (localizing) surgery

  2004 - Billings Clinic Cancer Research Endowment

($1.1 million raised, includes $365,000 (net) raised at the Classic, $375,000 grant from the Charles M. Bair Memorial Trust and $365,000 received from an anonymous donor.)

• Bring additional phase I and phase II clinical studies to Billings so that people with difficult-to-treat cancers can have the latest therapy in their own community
• Develop new strategies for cancer screening and prevention
• Incorporate a holistic approach to cancer care with integrative oncology programs at the Billings Clinic Wellness Center
• Acquire special research medications for patients
• Pay for testing associated with clinical trials

  2003 - Billings Clinic Psychiatric Services Endowment

($2.5 million raised, includes $300,000 raised at the Classic, $350,000 donated as a Charles M. Bair Memorial Trust gift and $1.875 million received in an anonymous estate gift.)

• General fund to keep vital psychiatric programs and services going.
• Will cover unreimbursed costs for care.

2002 - $400,000: Emergency and Trauma Services

• Helped expand the Emergency Services department
• Added new technologies to the state-of-the-art facility
• Enhanced Emergency and Trauma programs and services

2001 - $365,000: Research

• Helped to fund a new, state-of-the-art research facility
• Equipped the research laboratory with the only mass spectrometers devoted to clinical research within a 600-mile radius of Billings
• Will allow us to investigate a wider variety of diseases and expand the number of patients who will benefit from new therapies free of charge

2000 - $243,000: Cardiac Care

• Purchased a portable heart health risk assessment program
• Expanded the region's only electrophysiology program
• Established an endowment fund for patients who cannot afford rehabilitation services and more

1999 - $203,000: Diabetes Prevention and Treatment

• Funded a new pediatric diabetes educator
• Expanded Billings Clinic's relationship with the Barbara Davis Clinic in Denver
• Implemented outreach support for type 1 and type 2 diabetes patients

1998 - $193,000: Teens At Risk

• Co-sponsored Milton Creagh to speak to teens on "Preventing Substance Abuse"
• Provided scholarships for teens in need of mental health evaluations
• Donated and renovated a home for Youth Dynamics, Inc. on the Billings Clinic campus to house a youth hostel for teens with mental health needs

1997 - $125,000: Senior Services

• Equipped a mobile x-ray van, introduced the "Eden Alternative" environment at Aspen Meadows retirement home
• Supplied educational and diagnostic materials for the Senior Assessment Program
• Purchased in-home emergency response units to help people stay in their homes

1996 - $100,000: Cancer Prevention and Treatment

• Created a sun room for cancer patients in the hospital
• Renovated hospital rooms for stem cell transplant and hospice patient care
• Sponsored community-wide colorectal cancer screening and prevention clinic