Fed up with being left out of the health-care policy discussion, several local doctors have joined a leadership program to help them steer that discussion.

Dr. Todd Bergland of Glacier Medical Associates in Whitefish and Dr. Jonathan Amick, an anesthesiologist, are the two latest local doctors to sign up for the Montana Medical Association’s Physician Leadership Effectiveness Program.

This is the second year of the program, in which several other local doctors participated during the inaugural year. Kalispell doctors John Andenoro, Craig Eddy and Melissa Hulvat and Whitefish doctors Jay Erickson and Al Olszewski all took part in last year’s nine-month program.

Some of the most prominent doctors in the area and in the state saw the program as potentially valuable training to set policy.

Bergland, the chief of medical staff at North Valley Hospital, heard about the program through an announcement email and talked to several of his colleagues who had been through it.

“What seemed appealing about it is it seemed like a good way to connect with other doctors,” he said. “I’m not from Montana. I was in the Army, so I don’t know many other providers here.”

Bergland served as an Army surgeon in Washington, Germany and in Ramadi, Iraq, earning a Bronze Star.

He said leadership comes naturally to him and he wants to help be at the forefront of determining policy for insurance and health care in Montana.

“Most doctors go into medicine looking to take care of patients,” Bergland said. “But it’s more than just doing a good job in the exam room. If physicians aren’t involved in how things are changing, patients won’t get served well.”

According to a press release from the Montana Medical Association, the program was designed by Montana doctors for Montana doctors and aims to improve medical providers’ skills “to create transformational change in their practice, hospital and community.”

Bergland said much of the direction of statewide insurance policy was driven by Medicaid and Medicare, and behind-the-scenes work accounted for much of the rest.

“I don’t know all the ins and outs of the jockeying between providers and insurers,” he said. “But I’d like to be part of the solution by meeting and discussing with other providers.”

Bergland and Amick will begin their training in September.

Reporter Ryan Murray may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.