Logan Health Children’s celebrates fifth birthday by honoring patients with Hall of Heroes

Jordana Hubble grinned ear-to-ear with a cupcake-covered smile at Logan Health Children’s. It’s been nearly five years since the 11-year-old was hit by a car while getting off a school bus near Whitefish, an incident that nearly killed her and left her with severe brain damage.  

Her mother Vo Hubble remembers the moment during recovery when Jordana was able to start laughing again. 

“I wasn't really sure if she was hearing us, until her siblings started getting her giggling. I thought ‘OK, she can hear us, she knows we're here with her and her siblings got her cracking up,’” Vo Hubble said.  

Jordanna is one of many former patients featured in the new Hall of Heroes display in the children’s hospital unveiled on July 1 as part of a celebration of the fifth anniversary of the opening of Logan Health Children’s. Hospital staff hope the stories serve as comfort to families enduring difficult times while they have a child in the hospital.  

“I never thought that it would get to this. I'm so, so thankful she has quality of life,” Vo Hubble said. “She's happy, she's got a wicked sense of humor, she’s spicy — that's what's gotten her here.” 

Since the children’s hospital opened in 2019, medical staff has grown from 42 to 64 providers, not including support staff like registered nurses and social workers, among others. 

There has also been an increase in patients, with 16,039 seen by the hospital in 2023. This is compared to 8,714 patients seen the year the children’s hospital first opened. 

Dr. Courtney Paterson, the physician executive for Logan Health’s Women and Children’s Primary Care, said since the hospital’s opening, the biggest impact is the ability to bring near-immediate access to specialty pediatric care, particularly to outlying communities.   

“Many of those patients were actually seen in their home communities by our pediatric specialists ... That's one of the things that makes Logan Health Children's a little bit different, is we try as much as possible to send the providers to the patient rather than always expecting the patients to come to us,” Paterson said. 

EACH FORMER patient stood in front of their portrait as it was unveiled, like 12-year-old Chuck Little, who took his baseball cap off as attendees applauded. His mother Kristie Little said when he was 7, the Fort Belknap family dropped everything to treat osteomyelitis in his skull and spine, a swelling caused from infection that has spread to the bone.  

He cracked a smile when Child Life Supervisor Amy Stewart brought up the toy Jeep he drove around during his 44 days in the hospital.  

“We rode that Jeep so hard that something cracked on the bottom and it stopped working,” Stewart said with a laugh. “It started and ended with you.” 

Kristie Little said after his diagnosis, doctors told them they would have to travel to San Diego or Seattle for treatment. Instead, they were able to go to Kalispell, where they were provided with a place to stay and got assistance with sending his siblings’ schoolwork back to teachers.   

Stewart, who was happy to see many of her former patients, said families like Chuck Little’s make up the tapestry of the children’s hospital.  

“Life doesn't stop when you have a child in the hospital, you still have to pay the bills, the dog still has to be fed and the other kids still need to be attended to and go to school,” Steward said. “The heroes behind these little heroes are the families who take one for the team to give them the best possible care that they can.” 

Stewart said it makes her emotional to think about the ways her patients have risen above the odds and moved on from what brought them to Logan Health Children’s. As she watched some of the children play in the lobby, she noted “they have better things to do than mope around.”  

One former patient who spent little time fretting about his situation was 16-year-old Brady Hout of Ronan. It's been one year since he got into a four-wheeler accident that led to the amputation just below the knee on his left leg. Forty-five minutes after surgery, he was awake and moving around in a wheelchair, cracking jokes with staff and his family.  

Since his accident, Hout has found success in para-cycling and wrestling. He also wants to play tennis, finding a place in the sport outside of using a wheelchair, which is how tennis is typically played in the Paralympics.  

“I've always been one to love sports, that's always been my big thing,” Hout said. “But now, it's more of a thing to just prove that it shouldn't slow you down. No matter what it is. You can be just as good as anyone else with a limitation.” 

WHETHER THE former patients were saved a cross-country trip to see a needed specialist or were able to be treated quickly after a life-threatening accident, their stories speak to the overall goals of the children’s hospital.  

The children’s hospital aims to support patients in communities farther away through its dedicated pediatric critical care unit, with neonatal intensive care unit and pediatric intensive care nurses who can fly by air ambulance to reach emergencies quickly.  

The first floor of the children’s hospital cost $40 million to construct and includes neonatal and pediatric intensive care, along with space for other pediatric services and long-term care, according to a 2018 Daily Inter Lake article previewing the facility’s opening. 

Though the entire building project was projected to cost around $100 million, no new construction has taken place on the second or third floors. Paterson said that space was used by the National Guard during the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 for overflow Covid-19 patients, but now, administrators are in the strategic planning phase of deciding best uses.  

"Since we originally started in 2019, the needs of Montana and of our community have changed quite a bit. Now that we're looking at finishing out second and third floor, we’re just trying to be really strategic about what our community needs us from us today,” Paterson said.  

One area that has seen growth is the number of patients in pediatric critical care, which has doubled over the last five years. Neonatal care has also grown consistently at a little over 10% per year, according to Paterson. 

In addition to the ability to respond to emergencies quickly, Paterson said she’s proud of the steps toward providing more comprehensive care for patients. The children’s hospital has the state’s only pediatric neurologist, a pediatric gastrointestinal doctor and a pediatric rheumatologist, among others, she noted.  

“It's kind of that slow growth of the major specialties that pediatric patients need. But now we've been able to expand to so many specialties, that it's nearly 100% comprehensive,” Paterson said. 

Continuing to reach outlying communities and finding ways to bring them more comprehensive health care is still the goal, Paterson said.  

She believes the recent integration with Billings Clinic lends itself to more opportunities to get patients in contact with specialists. The newly combined health care system has the most pediatric specialists in Montana. 

Patients can connect with Billings Clinic in many ways, Paterson said, among those is telehealth, which has also grown since the hospital opened its doors.  

“We can give kids the care that they need, no matter where they live in Montana,” she said. 

Before Logan Health Children’s opened, Paterson said a family dealing with a sick child or an emergency would sometimes have to go out of state or be admitted to an area of the hospital that wasn’t dedicated to children.  

Now when a family must plan a hospital stay, they have the support of Logan Health Children’s staff and a comfortable place to land while figuring out the next steps.  

“To wake up in a space where you have the facilities and support that you need to be able to take care of the entire family is such a gift for everybody in Montana. And as a parent myself, that's what I always hoped for too,” Paterson said. 

Reporter Taylor Inman can be reached at 406-758-4433 or by emailing tinman@dailyinterlake.com. 

    Logan Health Children's Child Life Specialist Amy Stewart shows 9-year-old Finnley Foster her portrait featured in their new Hall of Heroes display, located in the hospital's pediatric wing. (Taylor Inman/Daily Inter Lake)
  

    Dr. Courtney Paterson, physician executive of women's and children's services at Logan Health in Kalispell on Friday, June 28. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    The ALERT Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Transport Team at Logan Health Children's in Kalispell on Friday, June 28. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    Registered nurse Josh Taylor makes his rounds at Logan Health Children's in Kalispell on Friday, June 28. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider