Tester Secures More Than $24 Million in American Rescue Plan Funding for Montana Community Health Centers

Senator was the only member of the Montana delegation to vote to deliver critical vaccination, testing, and treatment resources

U.S. Senator Jon Tester today announced that Montana community health centers (CHCs) will receive $24,182,854 in American Rescue Plan funding to support COVID-19 vaccination efforts, testing, and treatment across the state. Tester was the only member of the Montana delegation to support this funding.

Beginning in April, the funding will be distributed by the Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA) to 14 Montana CHCs and can be used to support and expand vaccination efforts, testing, and treatment; deliver needed preventive and primary health care services to those at higher risk for COVID-19; and bolster health centers’ operational capacity during the pandemic and beyond, including modifying and improving physical infrastructure and adding mobile units.

“Montana’s community health centers have been on the frontlines of this pandemic, helping to keep folks safe, caring for sick patients, and leading the charge in our state’s vaccination efforts,” said Tester. “These centers are often the primary care providers in their communities, and I’m proud to have supported this funding which will provide these critical hospitals with much-needed resources to care for and vaccinate folks across Montana, helping our state bounce back from this crisis as quickly as possible.”

The $24,182,854 in funding will be distributed across the 14 Montana CHCs as follows:

• Community Health Care Center, Inc. (Great Falls): $1,775,375
• Sapphire Community Health, Inc. (Hamilton): $810,250
• Marias Healthcare Services Inc. (Shelby): $1,620,375
• Yellowstone City-County Health Department (Billings): $3,275,750
• Community Health Partners Clinic (Livingston): $2,725,750
• Bighorn Valley Health Center, Inc. (Hardin): $2,057,000
• Flathead County (Kalispell): $175,354
• Lincoln County Community Health Center (Libby): $1,747,375
• Butte-Silver Bow Primary Health Clinic, Inc. (Butte): $2,685,625
• Montana Migrant & Seasonal Farm Workers Council Inc. (Billings): $1,402,875
• Missoula County (Missoula): $3,278,125
• PureView Health Center (Helena): $500,000
• Glacier Community Health Center Inc. (Cut Bank): $938,125
• Bullhook Community Health Center, Inc. (Havre): $1,190,875

HRSA-funded health centers are community-based and patient-directed organizations that deliver affordable, accessible, quality, and cost-effective primary health care to medically underserved communities and vulnerable populations, including high-need urban, rural, and frontier communities across the country. On a sliding fee basis, health centers serve 1 in 5 people living in rural communities, and 1 in 11 people nationwide.

As vaccinations efforts continue across the state, Tester has been working tirelessly to deliver critical resources to Montana communities to help get COVID-19 vaccines to those who want them. Earlier this month he voted in favor of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which delivered $20 billion funding for vaccine production, procurement, and distribution. He has worked to bring thousands of additional vaccine doses into Montana, and his bipartisan legislation to allow the VA to provide COVID-19 vaccination services to all veterans, veteran spouses, caregivers, and Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs recipients was signed into law earlier this week.