For many Montanans living in rural communities, accessing specialized healthcare isn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
Brianna Juneau reports – watch the video here:<\/p>\n
Providers travel to bring specialty care to Montana communities<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this geographic area, sometimes some of the more medically complex children are seen by pediatricians,\u201d said pediatrician Rachel Amthor. \u201cIt can be an opportunity to try to reach some children with medical complexity who do live in a rural area.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s very much a community atmosphere with the clinic,\u201d Amthor said. \u201cI\u2019ll have some patients walk from school during the day to come to their checkup and then walk back. They don\u2019t have to miss a lot of school because everything is so close.\u201d<\/p>\n
But for many adults, particularly those working in agriculture, traveling for care can be a major obstacle.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey either have to arrange transportation or they don\u2019t drive at all\u2014it\u2019s an ordeal,\u201d said Elizabeth O\u2019Connor, a cardiothoracic nurse practitioner. \u201cSome 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\u2019t leave their property for that long.\u201d<\/p>\n
By bringing services into rural towns, providers can catch health issues earlier and make critical adjustments before conditions worsen.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re able to make some simple adjustments in their medications that may prevent heart attacks, strokes, heart failure, admissions,\u201d O\u2019Connor said. \u201cProviding access can certainly improve\u2014if not longevity\u2014the quality of their life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Benefis\u2019 outreach clinics now serve a wide range of communities, offering specialty care that would otherwise require travel:<\/p>\n
Choteau: Cardiology, OBGYN, Podiatry, Pediatrics<\/p>\n
Fort Benton: Pediatrics, Cardiology, Podiatry, Dietician\/Nutrition services, Diabetes Education, Functional Medicine and Hormone Replacement Therapy<\/p>\n
Conrad: Cardiology<\/p>\n
Cut Bank: Women\u2019s Health<\/p>\n
Havre: Nephrology and Neurology<\/p>\n
Rocky Boy: Women\u2019s Health and Nephrology<\/p>\n
Shelby: Orthopedics<\/p>\n
White Sulphur Springs: Women\u2019s health<\/p>\n
Lewistown: Orthopedics and Dermatology<\/p>\n
Browning: Nephrology<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
For providers like Amthor, the outreach effort is deeply personal.<\/p>\n
\u201cI became a pediatrician because I wanted to treat kids in underserved areas,\u201d she said. \u201cI was not expecting to be working in rural Montana, but that has been different and very good.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For many Montanans living in rural communities, accessing specialized healthcare isn\u2019t as simple as booking an appointment. It…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":620627,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[97,252,253],"class_list":["post-620626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=620626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/620627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=620626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=620626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=620626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}