Workers in state-run medical facilities will soon get a raise. This comes as the state struggles to hire permanent medical workers, but state health officials have a plan to recruit and retain more staff.
The state is projected to spend nearly $55 million this year on contract staffing. Almost all of that spending stems from the Montana State Hospital.
The state will give nurses, psychiatric technicians, direct support staff and other positions a $7,500 one-time bonus. The state is offering the same bonus to new staff who stay on the job for a year.
Staff will also receive raises ranging from $1.75 to $4 an hour, depending on the position.
But not everyone thinks it’s the right move.
David Carlson with Disability Rights Montana (DRM) said that money could be better invested elsewhere.
“Invest that same amount of money in providing good community-based services with around the clock support. In a community-based setting, it will be cheaper, more effective and gets people out of a place the feds have said is too dangerous for them to be a part of,” Carlson said.
The state hospital lost federal funding in 2022 due to patient deaths and injuries. DRM has the right to inspect the state hospital. Carlson said the conditions that led to those incidents remain.
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The state health department is offering $6.5 million in grant funds to help county jails offer mental health evaluations, medication and stabilization services to inmates. The hope is that inmates on the waiting list for care at the Montana State Hospital can get that care in jail instead. -
The state health department could be split in half under a bill that would break up the state’s largest agency. -
Montanans with severe mental illnesses that are accused of crimes can languish in jail for more than a year as they wait for a bed at the state psychiatric hospital. New legislation would build a facility for those patients in eastern Montana. -
Montanans living with severe mental illness are cycling in and out of ERs, jails, shelters and the state psychiatric hospital. Many never get the long-term help they need. One Missoula woman has been caught in that cycle for years. Her daughter uprooted her life to help. MTPR's Aaron Bolton brings us their story and reports on whether proposed reforms to the state mental health system offer them hope.
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Legislation that would allow the state psychiatric hospital to deny court-ordered commitments is on hold. State health officials and advocates disagree about whether more patients can be served in the community.
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State health officials want to add more facilities for discharged state hospital patients who need support reentering their community.
