Hospitals Cut Jobs and Services as Rising Costs Strain Budgets
More than two years into the pandemic, hospital budgets are beginning to crack. One of the biggest drivers of financial shortfalls has been the cost to find workers.
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Public Health Agencies Adapt Covid Lessons to Curb Overdoses, STDs, and Gun Violence
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.
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When Mental Illness Leads to Dropped Charges, Patients Often Go Without Stabilizing Care
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.
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Montana Clinics That Provide Abortions Preemptively Restrict Pill Access for Out-of-State Patients
Montana is an island of legal abortion, but three of the state’s five clinics are limiting access to abortion pills for out-of-state patients in an effort to protect themselves and patients from legal attacks.
By Katheryn Houghton and Arielle Zionts -
Some People in This Montana Mining Town Worry About the Dust Next Door
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?
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Montana Hires a Medicaid Director With a Managed-Care Past
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.
By Katheryn Houghton and Tony Leys -
Abortion Politics Lead to Power Struggles Over Family Planning Grants
Conservative-leaning states and nonprofit reproductive health care providers are competing over control of states’ Title X funding for family planning programs.
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A Year In, Montana’s Rolled-Back Public Health Powers Leave Some Areas in Limbo
Montana lawmakers stripped authority from local health boards, leading to power struggles between cities and counties and leaving public health officers to wonder to whom they answer.
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Biden Administration Announces Boost for Rural Health Care in Midterm Election Push
President Joe Biden’s Cabinet members are fanning out across the country to promote benefits coming to rural America from covid relief and infrastructure legislation.
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The Pandemic Exacerbates the ‘Paramedic Paradox’ in Rural America
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.
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Long Waits for Montana State Hospital Leave Psychiatric Patients in Jail
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.
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Two Years In, Covid Leaves Montana Public Health Officials Feeling ‘Watched’
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.
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Dangerous Levels of Lead Were Found in the Water of About Half the Schools Tested in Montana
Officials testing water found high lead levels in more than 100 of the state’s nearly 600 school buildings. But as of mid-February, half the state’s schools had yet to provide samples.
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Covid Aid to Protect Montana Prisons and Jails Sits Unused
Montana has yet to start spending nearly $2.5 million in federal aid to boost covid detection and mitigation in the state’s prison and jails.
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States Were Sharing Covid Test Kits. Then Omicron Hit.
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.
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‘Heart’ of Little Shell: Newest Federally Recognized Tribe to Open First Clinic
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.
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Some Groups Are Left Out of Montana Covid Test Giveaway Program
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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