Services Targeting Children on the Chopping Block
Evidence shows that targeted case management is effective in helping high-risk infants and children get off to a better start in life, but those programs are threatened by cuts to state funding, which will trigger even larger federal cuts.
Innovations in Healthcare
This Billings Gazette editorial lauds our new RiverStone Health Clinic and the public-private partnership that made it possible.
Growing to Serve You
Check out the Community Open House for our new RiverStone Health Clinic on Wednesday, January 17, from 4-6 p.m. The new Clinic opens for patient care on the afternoon of Monday, January 22. Its design enhances the patient-centered model of care.
Hope for the Homeless in Billings
Addiction, poor health, poverty, trauma, and unemployment can sometimes converge and lead to homelessness, as this Billings Gazette Opinion page points out.
Unless Congress acts, Community Health Centers face 70 percent cut
Congress must act before the end of September to avoid a drastic lapse in funding for Community Health Centers like RiverStone Health and the 16 other CHCs in Montana and those in other states. The federal funding helps cover the sliding fee scale for low-income patients and families.
Dental Practice Thrives on Community Service
When Dr. Mike Downing set up a dental practice on Billings’ South Side in 1996, he was guided by a philosophy of community service instilled by his parents. “I firmly believe communities that truly value, celebrate and support the gifts of all people, regardless of gender, race, age, sexual orientation or economic level, will thrive in positive, healthy ways,” he said during an interview with The Billings Gazette.
Wildfire Smoke Reaches Billings
You can get wildfire smoke updates and find out the air quality in our area through the Montana Department of Environmental Quality Today’s Air website.
When smoke reduces visibility to a few miles, it can be unhealthy, especially for people in sensitive groups, such as people with asthma, lung or heart disease.
Tester offers opinion on the health care bill
Speaking at RiverStone Health, U.S. Sen. Jon Tester blasted the Republican backed Senate health care bill, which he said will cause thousands of Montanans to lose coverage through cuts to Medicaid and mean higher rates for Montanans over age 50.
Proposal would ban e-cig use inside buildings, smoking near entrances
The RiverStone Board of Health adopts rules to protect the public health of the community. The board’s proposed rule, like the Montana Clean Indoor Air Act, recognizes the right of nonsmokers to breath clean indoor air.
Growing oasis in a food desert
A partnership between Friendship House of Christian Service and the South Side Community Center will help bring more health food options to the Southside neighborhood. Healthy By Design, which grew out of the Alliance between Billings Clinic, RiverStone Health and St. Vincent Healthcare, helped fund the project and foster the partnership.
