GREAT FALLS — An empty lot next to Benefis Health Systems’ Women’s and Children's Center on 10th Avenue South in Great Falls will be transformed into a one-of-a-kind facility to assist the area’s aging population.
Benefis is making plans to construct its state-of-the-art Healthy Aging Center. Plans for the center were announced in January at Ignite 2025.
“It's really a way to enable our aging population to take a proactive approach to their health and their ongoing well-being,” said Kaci Husted, Benefis Health System Senior Vice President.
The Healthy Aging Center, which according to Benefis is the only one of its kind in the state is intended to coordinate health care needs for an aging population.
“This is really meant to be somewhere that the aging population can access health care resources before they get to a point that they have acute health care needs or chronic conditions that have gotten to the point that they're much more difficult to manage,” said Husted.
In 2022, the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services in partnership with Montana's ten Area Agencies on Aging, conducted a community assessment survey for older adults.
Health-related problems were some of the most common challenges listed by older adults with 39% reporting physical health challenges and 28% reporting mental health challenges.
Health care was also a challenge for about 44% of older residents.
Husted says Benefis already has a multitude of services geared toward the elderly who have an acute need or are at a point where they can’t take care of themselves anymore.
The new center will help people take a proactive approach to their health care.
“They can maintain their health status before they get to that point of being frail and having chronic conditions that are out of control or things of that nature,” said Husted. “This building will offer a complement of clinic providers, including geriatricians, geriatric behavioral health providers, some visiting specialists, even from elsewhere on our campuses, as well as things like physical therapy and occupational therapy, nutritional education, medication, reconciliation services through a pharmacy team and just general care coordination and care navigation.”
The Benefis Health Foundation has already started a fundraising campaign in hopes of raising $2.5 million towards the cost of the multimillion-dollar facility which will draw upon a current Benefis building in hopes of taking advantage of the great outdoors.
“One of the things we'll be doing also that mimics what the Women's and Children's Center has is physical therapy space that's both indoor and outdoor to allow people to practice different skills, get different types of therapy that's specific to something they're trying to work on that might entail being outdoors or being active.,” said Husted.
Husted says Benefis hopes to break ground in May and have the center complete in just over a year.
