How a Small Montana Town Bridged Big Healthcare Gaps
By Fay Harvey
DARBY, Mont. — Since the opening of Bitterroot Health’s Darby Scripps Clinic in Darby, Mont., the town’s fewer than 900 residents no longer need to travel 30 miles to the nearest major city to access healthcare. The clinic has transformed local medical services, bringing the community closer to accessible care.
A Need for Care
Rural areas are frequently also care deserts, geographical areas where patients face significant barriers to accessing healthcare. Clinical settings in more rural areas typically suffer from aging facilities and technology, high employee turnover rates and less funding. These issues can lead to the closing of hospitals ad clinics, further decreasing healthcare access for rural residents. In addition, rural populations experience a higher deathrate than urban populations, and are more likely to suffer from cancer, heart disease and chronic respiratory illness.
Darby has faced similar challenges in providing healthcare to residents. Prior to the opening of Bitterroot Health, Darby residents traversed hazardous road conditions in inclement weather to reach care in the nearest major Montana cities, such as Hamilton or Missoula. The new state-of-the-art facility in Darby, however, has revolutionized the community’s access to medical services and offers space for future expansion the local population rises.
Fort Collins, Colo.-based architecture firm Neenan Archistruction and Montana-based healthcare provider Bitterroot Health joined forces on the Darby Scripps Clinic project to bring better healthcare to the community. Work on the project commenced in March 2023.
“Since our start and our early roots in Hamilton, we have adhered to our mission of providing care for all in the Bitterroot Valley,” said John Bishop, CEO of Bitterroot Health in a statement. “As we’ve grown, we’ve added new care options and specialties, and have added services to other areas in Ravalli County. Now, we’re excited to bring expanded healthcare options to the people of Darby. To be able to fulfill our mission by bringing more care services to this remarkable community is rewarding.”
The project encountered challenges related to labor shortages and budget, but thanks to the commitment and ingenuity of the project team remained on schedule for its 2024 opening.
“It takes a combination of vision, ideas and courageous people to make a project like this work,” said Charles Scripps, Bitterroot Health partner, in a statement. “I give a lot of credit to Bitterroot Health’s Board and Foundation Board, John Bishop, the architects, and Bitterroot Health Darby physician Maria Hipp to come up with a workable plan to meet the needs of our community. I’m just grateful to be a part of it. The town of Darby will benefit greatly from having this vision become a reality.”
Inside the Clinic
The compact, 7,000-square-foot facility features modern technology and expanded primary care services such as imaging, pediatric, women’s health, urgent care, physical therapy, lab services and X-ray as well as a pharmacy.
In the lobby, a “Thank You” portrait filled with wooden rings etched in with names of donors sits alongside a monitor displaying art by local Darby students. To the north, an area for the care team offers easy access to the surrounding patients’ rooms. With the exception of the X-ray machine, all care and diagnostic equipment is brought to the patient’s exam room, highlighting the clinic’s focus on creating a positive, comfortable and visitor-centric experience.
In collaboration with Inland Imaging, a radiology group in Spokane, Wash., digital imaging is read and made transferable between physicians and specialists in an efficient manner.
An ambulance bay was incorporated to align with the introduction of emergency medical services (EMS). The 24/7 clinic also includes designated space for EMS staff, ensuring they are readily available to respond to incoming calls.
Integrated behavioral health is another new offering in the Darby clinic. For three to six months, patients can work on coping skills, behavioral management and intervention tools using a collaborative care model. As of June 2024, 70 patients had participated in treatment.
Since opening, Bitterroot Health has collaborated with Montana’s Ravalli County Schools to create a specialized Career and Technical Education Healthcare Pathways Program. The program combines classroom-level learning with hands-on clinical experiences—all taught by registered nurses employed at Bitterroot Health—for students to explore the healthcare career field and gain practical experience. In another effort to tie in a sense of community, photography displayed in the lobby was taken by local high school guidance counselor Kurt Kohn.
A native of Darby, Maria Hipp recently returned to the area to deliver primary care services at Bitterroot Health.
“The core values at Bitterroot Health align with mine which allows me to help patients live healthier, fuller lives,” Hipp said in a statement from Bitterroot Health. “I love providing care in my community; coming home to practice medicine in the Valley has been one of the most rewarding experiences. Giving back to people who helped raise me is one of the most special feelings in the world.”