Health center splits from Flathead County

The Flathead Community Health Center, established in 2007 as a division of the Flathead City-County Health Department, officially spun off Monday to operate as a private nonprofit with a new name: the Greater Valley Health Center.

In a statement, Mary Sterhan, the health center's CEO, said it will continue providing medical, dental, behavioral health and substance abuse treatment at its locations in Kalispell and Hungry Horse, with sliding-scale discounts based on a family's size and income to help ensure no one is denied care based on their ability to pay.

"We're going to be in the same locations, with the same health-care providers, providing the same high-level quality of care," Sterhan said.

The center, which serves roughly 8,000 Flathead Valley residents, has an annual operating budget of roughly $6 million and will continue receiving the bulk of its funding from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration.

The local Board of Health and the Flathead County commissioners began discussing the health center's split more than a year ago, though the process was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Officials say the center will operate more efficiently as an independent entity.

"Local governments used to be deeply involved in a lot of different realms of health care, like in nursing homes and hospitals, but over the years they have gradually moved away from that," Sterhan told the Daily Inter Lake in March. "A community clinic isn't meant to operate in a government structure, and we aren't really a government entity. Our intent is to serve the underserved, and we can do that best if we are independent."

The health center is located at 1035 First Ave. W. in Kalispell, and a satellite location is at 200 North St. in Hungry Horse. More information can be found by calling the center at 406-607-4900 or visiting greatervalleyhealth.org.

Assistant editor Chad Sokol may be reached at 406-758-4439 or csokol@dailyinterlake.com.