Today is Saturday, May 2, the 122nd day of 2026. There are 243 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On May 2, 1972, a fire at the Sunshine silver mine in Kellogg, Idaho, claimed the lives of 91 miners who succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning.

Also on this date:

In 1863, during the Civil War, Confederate Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson was accidentally wounded by his own men at Chancellorsville, Virginia; he died eight days later.

For many Montanans living in rural communities, accessing specialized healthcare isn’t as simple as booking an appointment. It can mean hours on the road to cities like Great Falls. But a growing outreach effort from health care like Benefis Health System is changing that reality by bringing providers directly to patients.

Brianna Juneau reports – watch the video here:

Providers travel to bring specialty care to Montana communities

Instead of requiring long-distance travel, Benefis doctors and advanced practice providers are hitting the road, delivering care in towns across North Central Montana. The goal: reduce barriers to access and ensure patients receive timely treatment closer to home.

“In this geographic area, sometimes some of the more medically complex children are seen by pediatricians,” said pediatrician Rachel Amthor. “It can be an opportunity to try to reach some children with medical complexity who do live in a rural area.”

That access can be especially impactful for young patients. In some communities, clinics are located near schools, allowing children to attend appointments without missing an entire day of class.

“There’s very much a community atmosphere with the clinic,” Amthor said. “I’ll have some patients walk from school during the day to come to their checkup and then walk back. They don’t have to miss a lot of school because everything is so close.”

But for many adults, particularly those working in agriculture, traveling for care can be a major obstacle.

“They either have to arrange transportation or they don’t drive at all—it’s an ordeal,” said Elizabeth O’Connor, a cardiothoracic nurse practitioner. “Some of our patients travel for a whole day to get here and back, or they have to spend the night. A lot of farmers and ranchers just can’t leave their property for that long.”

By bringing services into rural towns, providers can catch health issues earlier and make critical adjustments before conditions worsen.

“We’re able to make some simple adjustments in their medications that may prevent heart attacks, strokes, heart failure, admissions,” O’Connor said. “Providing access can certainly improve—if not longevity—the quality of their life.”

Benefis’ outreach clinics now serve a wide range of communities, offering specialty care that would otherwise require travel:

Choteau: Cardiology, OBGYN, Podiatry, Pediatrics

Fort Benton: Pediatrics, Cardiology, Podiatry, Dietician/Nutrition services, Diabetes Education, Functional Medicine and Hormone Replacement Therapy

Conrad: Cardiology

Cut Bank: Women’s Health

Havre: Nephrology and Neurology

Rocky Boy: Women’s Health and Nephrology

Shelby: Orthopedics

White Sulphur Springs: Women’s health

Lewistown: Orthopedics and Dermatology

Browning: Nephrology

Many of these services are critical for managing chronic conditions, ranging from heart disease to kidney disorders, where consistent follow-up care can significantly impact outcomes.

For providers like Amthor, the outreach effort is deeply personal.

“I became a pediatrician because I wanted to treat kids in underserved areas,” she said. “I was not expecting to be working in rural Montana, but that has been different and very good.”

As the program continues to grow, Benefis leaders say they hope to expand services even further, reaching more communities and reducing healthcare disparities across the state.

In places where distance has long defined access, these traveling clinics are helping ensure that quality care is no longer out of reach, but right down the road.

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Nevada Immigrant Coalition held a march and rally in downtown Las Vegas on May Day, joining similar demonstrations across the country to demand better treatment for immigrant families and workers.

The event coincided with First Friday, drawing attention to the economic pressures facing local businesses and workers as costs continue to rise.

Noe’ Orozco, a representative with the Nevada Immigrant Coalition, said the group is focused on elevating people over corporations.

WATCH | Nevada Immigrant Coalition rallies on May Day to demand worker protections

Nevada Immigrant Coalition rallies on May Day to demand worker protections

“We’re trying to put people above corporations, and we one way. You can do that is definitely by supporting the local businesses, because a lot of the local businesses, they, they sustain themselves,” Orozco said.

Many local business owners and workers say they rely on the foot traffic that First Friday generates each month.

“It’s our one night a month that we get walking traffic as if we’re on Fremont Street or on the Strip,” said a business owner at First Friday.

Workers also described the financial strain of the current economy.

“It’s very difficult to be living in the economy now without having two jobs,” said another business owner at First Friday.

The coalition said it is also responding to a recent surge in immigration enforcement activity across Nevada, which it says is negatively affecting local families.

KTNV

“Since the start of last year, we’ve seen a lot more of those overlapping conversations happening. And so, as I mentioned, right, highlighting the workers’ rights and a lot of those workers, a lot of workers that we engage with our migrant or immigrant workers, immigrant families, and so regardless of what industry you’re looking at, there is going to be an immigrant household that is being impacted,” Orozco said.

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This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.