The facility is the first of its kind in southwest Montana
By Jen Clancey STAFF WRITER
It was an uplifting morning for Bozeman Health’s leadership on Sept. 10, when they announced the completion of a 14-bed inpatient psychiatric unit in Bozeman Health Deaconess Regional Medical Center. The facility, expected to open next week, will be the first treatment center of its kind in southwest Montana.
Those involved in the project, which cost around $6.5 million, noted that this is major progress for the region’s access to psychiatric care closer to home, and is another step forward in serving the mental health needs of a growing southwest Montana population.
Chief Executive Officer of Bozeman Health Dr. Kathryn Bertany described the importance of the facility to her team and the community.
“There is likely no one in the room who has not been touched by the need for psychiatric services—whether it’s yourself, a family member, a friend, a neighbor, someone that you work with who needs care,” Bertany said.
She encouraged anyone needing resources to reach out.
“There is someone to help and we need to make sure that we save more people in the future, and this unit is going to help with that,” she said.
Ahead of the ribbon cutting, Gallatin County Commissioner Zach Brown described the challenge of meeting the need for mental health in the community.
“Ten years in public service has certainly taught me that no one’s coming to save us,” Brown said. “… And I feel often very frustrated by that reality … but this day and generally what this project represents is a very hopeful realization that despite the fact that no one’s coming to save us from above, we have each other, at the community level.”
Through a successful 25th annual Hospitality Gala on top of sveral years of community donors’ contributions, the Bozeman Health Foundation has received 1,224 gifts, totaling to $4.16 million. About $1.5 million of that sum supported the construction and establishment of the new inpatient unit. Capital investments through the hospital system supported the remainder of construction of the space.
Expansion of services, team supports a “growing and evolving” Montana
The psychiatric care team has grown 65-strong after starting in 2017 with just one psychiatrist. Nicole Madden, director of psychiatric services noted the timeline of psychiatric care at Bozeman Health. In 2022, the hospital opened its psychiatric emergency services beside the emergency department to address the need for crisis care in medicine. Next week, the inpatient unit will open, accepting 50% of its capacity as staff master the ins and outs of running the space.
Past the unit’s check-in desk, Madden cut the ribbon to the space. Two single-bed rooms and six double-bed rooms are named after the theme of the artwork on the walls. In the Lupine Room, window shading reveals an “M” on an outline of the Bridger Range, referencing Bozeman’s famous hillside trail. Each room has a door built to maintain a patient’s autonomy and assure safety of staff and patients—the doors, when blocked from opening, can be pressed down to reverse the hinges, Madden demonstrated.
Activity and quiet rooms are set up with furniture, and schedules for “Group Therapy Skills” and others are taped onto walls, ready for patients to attend. In the group therapy room, Madden explained the numbers behind the need for further crisis care in Bozeman. Last year, the psychiatric emergency services team completed just under 1,359 crisis evaluations—of those, about 35%, or about 475 people, needed inpatient care. Formerly, patients would be transferred to the closest care unit in Billings, about 140 miles away. The new site could prevent that displacement.
“I think Montana as a whole is growing and evolving and we’re really starting to see the need for these things, and I think the need has been there,” Madden said. “I don’t think any one of us would argue that we haven’t had a need for this type of service in our community for a lot of years.”
According to a 2021 National Alliance on Mental Illness report, 163,000 adults in the state had a mental illness. Some organizations like local nonprofit Wellness in Action are working to connect people with the support they need to thrive in Big Sky. Executive Director Allison Bradac celebrated the opening of the unit.
“WIA is so grateful for the team at Bozeman Health for bringing the first in-patient psychiatric unit to our greater community,” Bradac stated in an email. “It will be a critical resource to ensure that patients can receive the best care for stabilization and overall improved mental health.”
As the unit opens doors next week, leaders hope the new services offer a comforting experience in care, serving people closer to their homes in the southwest region.
