Charlie Brereton

State health officials want to add more facilities for discharged state hospital patients who need support reentering their community.

The state’s only psychiatric hospital for adults won’t apply for federal recertification for at least another year. Construction at the Montana State Hospital is holding up the process.

About two-thirds of those who were kicked off state Medicaid rolls lost it for technical reasons like incorrectly filling out paperwork. That’s one of the highest procedural disenrollment rates nationwide, according to an analysis.

State officials are negotiating a contract to run job-training services for low-income Montanans with a Virginia-based company.

State Health Department Director Charlie Brereton said his office plans to apply for recertification of the state hospital with the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) by the end of the year.

The head of Montana’s health department has no plans to temporarily stop checking patients' Medicaid eligibility. About one in 10 Montanans have lost coverage through that process this year.

Families of former Montana State Hospital patients are suing the state. They say the state failed to prevent neglect, injuries and other issues at the psychiatric facility.

A Helena law firm has sued the state over a records request. Republican Brad Johnson has entered the U.S. Senate race. State environmental regulators are cracking down on a leaking wastewater pond near Holland Lake

Montana Free Press reporter Mara Silvers joined MTPR's Austin Amestoy with details about the Montana Health Department hiring a New York based consulting firm to guide the state as it undergoes a multiyear overhaul of its behavioral health services.

Patient injuries, abuse, and neglect have continued at the Montana State Hospital since the state-run psychiatric facility lost its federal certification due to preventable patient deaths. But state officials won’t release details, citing laws making those reports confidential.