Some Montana Nonprofit Hospitals Fall Short of Peers in Required Charitable Giving
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.
Under Pressure, Montana Hospital Considers Adding Psych Beds Amid a Shortage
A hospital in Bozeman, Montana, is considering whether to add inpatient psychiatric care after a concerted push from mental health advocates. But even if it adds beds, hospitals across Montana provide a cautionary tale: finding enough workers to staff such beds is its own challenge, and some behavioral health units routinely reach capacity.
Have Vaccines, Will Travel: On the Road With a Covid Entrepreneur
While many businesses scaled back at the height of the pandemic, one Montana man used covid-19 to open his own mobile pharmacy. He’s now bringing covid shots to Montana’s vaccine deserts while filling his wallet. But he cannot fill all the vaccination gaps.
A Quarter of US Hospitals, and Counting, Demand Workers Get Vaccinated. But Not Here.
Amid a surge in covid-19 cases driven by the highly contagious delta variant, nearly 1,500 health systems across the nation are requiring their employees to get vaccinated. In Montana and Oregon, that’s not an option.
Covid Renews Interest in Radiation, but Docs Caution Against Pilgrimages to Radon-Filled Mines
Each year, people in pain travel to Montana and pay to sit amid radon gas, which is pitched as therapy for a long list of health issues. While low-dose radiation therapy is getting another look amid the pandemic, experts say that treatment is different than sitting in a tunnel of radioactive gas.
States Step Up Push to Regulate Pharmacy Drug Brokers
In an ongoing effort to control prescription drug costs, states are targeting the companies that mediate deals among drug manufacturers, health insurers and pharmacies. The pharmacy benefit managers say they negotiate lower prices for patients, yet the nitty-gritty occurs largely behind a curtain that lawmakers are trying to pull back.
En crisis de salud mental, el 911 ahora no siempre responde con policías
Cada vez más terapeutas forman parte de los equipos de emergencia. Y en 2022 habrá una una nueva línea específica para crisis de salud mental: el 988.
In Mental Health Crises, a 911 Call Now Brings a Mixed Team of Helpers — And Maybe No Cops
More communities are creating teams of health care providers to respond to mental health crises instead of cops, a shift propelled by nationwide demonstrations against police brutality. But the shapes of those mobile crisis response teams vary because the movement is still in an experimental stage.
What the Slowing Vaccine Rates Mean for One Rural Montana County
In one northwestern Montana county where demand for covid vaccines is dropping well before widespread immunity is reached, people are split on whether the virus is a threat.
Only One Vaccine Is OK’d for Older Teens. It’s Also the Hardest to Manage in Rural America.
Of the three covid vaccines the U.S. government has authorized, only one is available to 16- and 17-year-olds: the Pfizer shot. It’s also the most complicated to manage in rural settings, with their small, dispersed populations. That forces some teens and their families to travel long distances for a dose — or go without.
Montana Sticks to Its Patchwork Covid Vaccine Rollout as Eligibility Expands
Montana’s overstretched counties and tribal governments have developed a mishmash of policies and plans that require ingenuity and mutual support to work. A reporting project by KHN, Montana Free Press and the University of Montana School of Journalism finds the biggest test of that disparate system looms as vaccine eligibility expands. Plus: a county-by-county guide to vaccine availability in Montana.
Getting a Prescription to Die Remains Tricky Even as Aid-in-Dying Bills Gain Momentum
Access to physician-assisted death is expanding across the U.S., but the procedure remains in Montana’s legal gray zone more than a decade after the state Supreme Court ruled physicians could use a dying patient’s consent as a defense.
Looking to Kentucky’s Past to Understand Montana Health Nominee’s Future
Montana’s pick for health director has garnered both praise and criticism for his past in Kentucky, where he sought to add work requirements to the state’s Medicaid program and was a top health official amid a hepatitis A outbreak.
With GOP Back at Helm, Montana Renews Push to Sniff Out Welfare Fraud
Montana is one of the latest states looking to aggressively check welfare eligibility to cut costs. Supporters of such steps say it’s about what’s fair — weeding out those who don’t qualify for assistance — while opponents say it will cut loose enrollees who actually need help.
Spurred by Pandemic, Little Shell Tribe Fast-Tracks Its Health Service Debut
As the newest federally recognized tribe, the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana is starting from scratch to deliver health care to members. While covid-19 has been devastating, it has sped up the tribe’s ability to build a clinic. Yet, lacking a reservation, the tribe faces challenges reaching its scattered members.
Lack of Covid Data on People With Intellectual Disabilities ‘Comes With a Body Count’
People with intellectual and developmental disabilities are more likely to have medical conditions that make covid especially dangerous. But a lack of federal tracking means no one knows how many people in disability group housing have fallen ill or died from the virus.
Pandemic Sends a Couple Into Indefinite Long Distance Though Just Miles Apart
Everyone is trying to figure out how relationships work in the time of covid. That includes a Bozeman, Montana, couple who suddenly found themselves in a long-distance relationship when the pandemic sent their group homes for adults with disabilities into lockdown.
In Fast-Moving Pandemic, Health Officials Try to Change Minds at Warp Speed
It typically takes years of persuasion to change habits in the name of health safety. Local officials who are stuck with the responsibility of enforcing statewide pandemic-related mandates are trying to transform behavior fast.
How Escalating COVID Cases Forced One State to Change Its Masking Strategy
Montana is seeking penalties against some businesses that violated its mask and social distancing directives, after months of reluctance to enforce COVID restrictions. Meanwhile, cities, counties and tribal nations still struggle to get people to mask up and avoid crowds.
COVID Spikes Exacerbate Health Worker Shortages in Rocky Mountains, Great Plains
COVID-19 infections and quarantines are pulling health professionals off the front lines, exacerbating staffing woes that existed in large, rural states well before the pandemic.
