Katheryn Houghton

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khoughton@kff.org
@K_Hought

Public Health Agencies Adapt Covid Lessons to Curb Overdoses, STDs, and Gun Violence

KFF Health News Original

Know-how gained through the covid pandemic is seeping into other public health areas. But in a nation that has chronically underfunded its public health system, it’s hard to know which changes will stick.

When Mental Illness Leads to Dropped Charges, Patients Often Go Without Stabilizing Care

KFF Health News Original

When criminal suspects are deemed too mentally ill to go through the court process and their charges are dropped, they can be left without stabilizing treatment — and sometimes end up being charged with additional crimes.

Some People in This Montana Mining Town Worry About the Dust Next Door

KFF Health News Original

Residents of a Butte neighborhood are concerned about the dust from a nearby open-pit mine that can coat their homes and vehicles. In a city where past mining left a legacy of soil and water pollution, is the air unsafe, too?

Montana Hires a Medicaid Director With a Managed-Care Past

KFF Health News Original

Montana, one of about a dozen states still managing its own Medicaid programs, has a new Medicaid director who championed handing the management of the program to private companies in Iowa and Kansas.

The Pandemic Exacerbates the ‘Paramedic Paradox’ in Rural America

KFF Health News Original

Emergency medical services are a lifeline in regions with scarce medical care. But paramedics, trained to respond to patients with life-threatening injuries, are in short supply where they’re needed most.

Long Waits for Montana State Hospital Leave Psychiatric Patients in Jail

KFF Health News Original

A backlog at Montana’s psychiatric hospital for those facing criminal charges has left people with serious mental illness behind bars for months without adequate treatment. In some cases, judges have freed defendants over due-process violations.

Two Years In, Covid Leaves Montana Public Health Officials Feeling ‘Watched’

KFF Health News Original

Montanans engage in plenty of spirited political disagreements. But debates about covid-19, public health, and personal liberties have reached a fever pitch, tugging at tightknit towns and making some residents wonder how their communities will survive.

States Were Sharing Covid Test Kits. Then Omicron Hit.

KFF Health News Original

The omicron variant upended a system in which states shared rapid covid tests with those that needed them more. Cooperation has turned into competition as states run out of supplies, limit which organizations get them, or hold on to expired kits as a last resort.

‘Heart’ of Little Shell: Newest Federally Recognized Tribe to Open First Clinic

KFF Health News Original

The Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana plans to open the nation’s newest Indian Health Service clinic in Great Falls on Jan. 31 — marking the first time the tribe will have its culture reflected in health care offerings.

Some Groups Are Left Out of Montana Covid Test Giveaway Program

KFF Health News Original

Public health officials and policymakers alike see rapid antigen tests as a strong tool to keep businesses open and parents working. But a look at Montana’s distribution of the tests shows a patchwork system with limited access for many.

Some Montana Nonprofit Hospitals Fall Short of Peers in Required Charitable Giving

KFF Health News Original

Montana nonprofit hospitals receive millions of dollars in tax exemptions as charities each year in exchange for giving back to their communities. A KHN review found that some of Montana’s richest medical centers are falling behind most state and national hospitals.