December 29, 2025

The President’s Message is published in the MHA Weekly News Report, a member only publication of the Montana Hospital Association. To subscribe, click here.

As I look back at the nearly half year I have spent at the MHA, I marvel at all that we have accomplished in 2025.

The year started off with a bang, with the 69^th Montana Legislative session kicking off on January 6. Medicaid expansion, provider rates, medical malpractice reform, licensure, community benefit, the hospital bed tax, and staffing ratios were all on the table. As a member of the Montana Legislature in 2025, I understood that this was the most important legislative session in my tenure. Hospitals and healthcare in Montana had the potential for great success or alternately, catastrophic failure.

It quickly became apparent that unity among the Montana hospitals would win the day. By coordinating talking points, priorities, and advocating for the best policies across the state, we created a healthcare lobby as powerful as any that I had seen as a legislator. The members’ work with legislators and candidates prior to the session was also key to our success. More lawmakers knew the facts and had the tools to enact good policy and to deny legislation that would be harmful to hospitals and those we serve.

In the end, your efforts paid off, but the work isn’t done. Future legislative sessions will continue to put our facilities, funding and healthcare at risk. Maintaining unity, working together and not putting any party, program or need ahead of what’s best for the whole healthcare system will ensure that the membership continues to succeed.

Not long after the state legislature adjourned, federal action took center stage. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1) was debated and passed, which included the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP). My tenure at the MHA actually started during the debates on H.R. 1. Thanks to our strong relationships with our congressional delegation, we had frequent input to the changes debated in the bill. H.R. 1 represents one of the most sweeping set of federal cuts to Medicaid we’ve ever seen, but the funding of the Montana Medicaid program remains intact. With your help, we are now working with the State to 1) ensure that the programmatic changes to Medicaid are implemented as responsibly as possible, and 2) that our members maximize the benefits of the RHTP over the next five years. Once again, putting the collective needs as our priority and staying unified will help to ensure that we are successful as these federal programs are implemented.

I made it a goal this year to visit as many facilities and CEOs as possible. While I didn’t make it to all locations, I was able to sit down with most of our members. This has been the best experience in my time at the MHA. The commitment and dedication of our healthcare leaders to the health and success of their communities is truly inspirational. I was also able to see firsthand the vast diversity in our facilities across the state. In Montana, we go way beyond PPS and CAH definitions. Each facility has its own demands, issues and unique population health needs to address. It is from these meetings, outside of the walls of the MHA, where I have received the best education. As I look back to 2025, the people who provide our healthcare, especially in our rural areas, are the reason for our success.

I have also been surrounded these past months with an amazing and capable staff at the MHA. These people are true professionals, with the knowledge and ability to help ensure the success of our members. Whether advocating for hospitals, or providing training, education, grant administration or services, you have a top-notch group looking out for your interests. I am proud to be trusted to lead an organization made up of such amazing people.

We have so much to be thankful for in 2025. I hope that you will take the time to review our successes. Our 2025 Year-End Member Benefit Report recaps some of our efforts. While we should indeed celebrate the year, we need to now turn our efforts to 2026 and beyond. It will take all of us to be successful and to ensure that our rural healthcare in Montana continues to be protected. I look forward to working with and seeing each of you during 2026.