Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Grants Target Mental Health, Addiction Treatment In Montana

(PD)
The Montana Healthcare Foundation says it's making grants available to support better healthcare for people with who have a combination of medical problems, mental illness and/or addiction.

Half a dozen health care systems in Montana are sharing more than $700,000 in grants to make mental or behavioral health care easier to get.

The Montana Healthcare Foundation says it's making the grants to support better healthcare for people who have a combination of medical problems and mental illness and/or addiction. It plans to award more than $3 million to the initiative over the next two years.

A Foundation press release says, "Hospitals and communities throughout Montana rank drug and alcohol addiction and mental illness as their most challenging health issues, but services can be hard to find and difficult to access."

Grantees include the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Health Department. Benefis Hospital in Great Falls and a school-based health center serving students in Columbia Falls and Whitefish.

Mental illness can make management of chronic health conditions like diabetes or heart disease more difficult, and the Foundation says, “people struggling with common problems like depression or addiction often die far too early.”

In the U.S., a majority of mental health medications are already dispensed by primary care practices, most of which don’t have behavioral health specialists on staff.

Eric Whitney is NPR's Mountain West/Great Plains Bureau Chief, and was the former news director for Montana Public Radio.
Explore the places where we come together and fall apart. The Wide Open brings nuanced reporting on under-covered environmental issues. Our deep storytelling provides context to the forces shaping our lives — with plenty of adventure, wildlife and rich sound along the way.
Become a sustaining member for as low as $5/month
Make an annual or one-time donation to support MTPR
Pay an existing pledge or update your payment information
Related Content