Montana
The announcement of the 2026 Montana AAU Little Sullivan Award winners
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.
Oil pipelines, it turns out, are one of the few things that can still get Montanans riled up. And now, here we go again.
Donald Trump has finalized the approval of one of the largest cross-state pipelines in U.S. history, a nearly three-foot wide pipeline that will carry oil from Canada through Montana to Wyoming when built out. It means if this thing goes ahead, you are looking at around 550,000 barrels a day moving through the region. That is no small enterprise either, and it has already placed Montana squarely in the middle of a well-worn debate.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
A Debate Montana Knows All Too Well
If all of this is ringing any bells for you, you are not wrong. Montana has been here before when it comes to pipeline debates, and just like last time, people are already divided. On one side, you have folks looking at this and thinking jobs, energy independence, and perhaps, bringing some much-needed relief to the gas pump. Because in all honesty, fuel has been rough lately. Every single fill-up makes you feel like you are buying concert tickets, not gas. For a lot of people, it sounds like progress.
Shawn Thew-Pool/Getty Images
Not Everyone Is Celebrating
Then there is the other camp, and they are hardly celebrating. Once again, environmental concerns are front and center. Spills, land impact, long-term risk. Everything that tends to get brushed aside until something actually breaks. Montana is not exactly short on people who care about the land. That part is not political. That is just reality out here. So when a pipeline cuts across the state, it quickly feels like poking a hornet’s nest.
Joe Raedle/Newsmakers
So Where Does This Go From Here
So where does that leave things? That is the question right now. Is this a move toward cheaper energy and greater stability, or is it another gamble with long-term consequences? The truth is, it is probably both. That said, construction crews are not rolling in tomorrow. The project still has hurdles to clear and could run into legal challenges. But the conversation is already here, and it is not going anywhere. And if history is any guide, Montana is going to have plenty to say about it.
Counties with the highest cancer rates in Montana
Gallery Credit: Stacker
-
San Francisco, CA10 minutes agoAudit says San Francisco Zoo spent $12M without required approval
-
Dallas, TX16 minutes agoFC Dallas vs New York Red Bulls: Highlights and stats
-
Miami, FL22 minutes agoF1: How to Watch the 2026 Miami Grand Prix
-
Boston, MA28 minutes agoWorkers at the ICA in Boston opt to unionize – The Boston Globe
-
Denver, CO34 minutes agoHunter Lawrence wins Denver Supercross, heads to finale one point behind Ken Roczen
-
Seattle, WA40 minutes agoSeattle Mariners’ Raleigh day-to-day with ‘general soreness’
-
San Diego, CA46 minutes agoSan Diego Padres vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (June 26-28)
-
Milwaukee, WI52 minutes agoBad housing leads to bad health for low-income renters | Letter