Drawn-Out Overhaul Of Troubled Montana Hospital Leaves Lawmakers In Limbo

Unsure how to help the troubled psychiatric facility, legislators look to shore up other parts of the state’s mental health system.

By Mara Silvers | Montana Free Press

Montana lawmakers are grappling with what they can do to improve patient care and operations at the state’s psychiatric hospital since realizing that the efforts underway to restore the troubled facility’s good standing could take more time.

The nearly 150-year-old Montana State Hospital has recently struggled to care for patients and retain staff. The problems came to a head in 2022, when federal investigators yanked the hospital’s federal certification — and funding — from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services because of a pattern of patient deaths found to be preventable, as well as injuries and falls.

Since then, Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte’s administration has launched a complex and expensive overhaul of the Montana State Hospital’s operations with the goal of regaining certification. That outcome may require years more work and tens of millions in additional funding from the Republican-majority legislature.

At least some lawmakers begrudgingly acknowledge the protracted scenario, reflecting on the time spent trying to pressure the state health department to move at a faster pace.

“I think it’s going to be done when it’s done,” said Sen. Dennis Lenz (R-Billings), a longtime lawmaker who sits on the state health department’s budget committee in the legislature. “It’s like telling your teenager, ‘Come on, get your act together. Come on, put your clothes away.’” Lawmakers in this session have the power to add or restric...