CHP in 2020: A Year in Review
Post Date: Dec 09, 2020
News & Press
2020 has been quite the year for our staff, our patients, our communities, and our organization. The presence of COVID-19 brought many challenges and spurred us to make difficult changes at first, but for the better. While putting together our year-end annual report, we took the time to reflect on this wild year – what we learned, how we adapted, and, most of all, the support we received from our community here in southwest Montana.
Our full CHP Annual Report 2020 is now available online, but we’ve compiled some highlights for you here.
How We Responded to COVID-19
When it came to responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, our organization focused on the foundations of keeping staff safe, caring for the most vulnerable in our communities, and delivering services effectively and efficiently, while using our resources well. For us, this meant making most of our services available virtually. In 2020, more than 2,115 medical visits and 1,598 behavioral health visits were delivered virtually, keeping patients connected while reducing the spread of COVID-19 in our communities. CHP patients also now have new ways to access information, with all forms available online.
And while the pandemic presented many opportunities for a redesign of CHP services, it also highlighted the deep disparities in health and well-being that exist across the country and in the communities served by CHP. Community health centers always have focused on health equity – ensuring that everyone in our communities has the same opportunity to be healthy. This mission was reflected in our patient demographics in 2020. Of all of our patients, 28 percent were uninsured, 14 percent were 18 and under, and 14 percent were racial or ethnic minorities. In addition, we served 373 military veterans and 282 homeless people.
Moving Our Clinics Forward
In CHP’s medical clinics, we focused on integrating behavioral health to treat the whole patient. More than 2,800 patients completed a standard depression screening survey (PHQ-9) during a routine medical clinic visit to help identify those experiencing symptoms of depression to provide treatment options, support, and follow-up. CHP’s Bozeman Medical Clinic also launched a primary-care-integrated behavioral health pilot program.
In our dental clinics, 608 adult patients completed their treatment plans, meaning that all needs for fillings, extractions, or other treatment were completed after a comprehensive exam was conducted. More than 1,640 same-day visits were provided to adult patients in pain through our dental clinics’ emergency walk-in hours.
Regarding behavioral health, more than 600 behavioral health evaluations were completed for CHP medical patients seeking to improve their health through behavioral therapy. In addition, more than 400 behavioral health visits were delivered to home-bound seniors through the Senior Reach partnership between Community Health Partners and the Human Resources Development Council (HRDC).
New This Year
In 2020, CHP also took its community outreach to a higher level, with new initiatives in the area. We opened the Belgrade Middle School Panther Clinic to serve students and affiliates of the school district. We also added full-time behavioral health therapists to three new Bozeman school locations, including Gallatin High School, Chief Joseph Middle School, and the Willson School. CHP also opened its first pharmacy within its Bozeman clinic, allowing patients to pick up medications immediately after their appointment without making a separate trip to the pharmacy.
We’re proud of all that we have accomplished through the help of our community in 2020. In 2021, we’ll continue to adjust and evolve our service delivery models to ensure safety and quality of care. We’ll also work to address facility needs across the organization so that our services can grow with the communities we serve. But we can’t do it without the help of donors in the community. Please consider supporting us in 2021 to help us continue to provide 100% access with zero disparity to an even larger number of patients next year.
If you’d like to donate, gifts can be directed to the address below, or you can donate through our website. Thank you for your support of CHP.
Community Health Partners
112 W Lewis Street
Livingston, MT 59047
