Legislation currently sitting on Governor Greg Gianforte’s desk could mean changes to Boulder’s Intensive Behavior Center.
House Bill 872 – sponsored by House District 10 Representative Bob Keenan (R-Bigfork) was approved during the 68th Montana Legislature, allocating $300 million to create a behavioral health system for future generations.
HB 872 also creates a Behavioral Health System for Future Generations Commission comprised of both governor’s appointees and legislators. Deciding the future of the IBC and many other components of Montana’s behavioral health system will be part of the commission’s work going forward, according to Department of Public Health and Human Services Communications Director Jon Ebelt.
At the Boulder Transition Advisory Committee meeting on May 4, HD 75 representative Marta Bertoglio (R-Clancy) said representative Keenan told her IBC could potentially be moved to the former location of the Shodair Children’s Hospital in Helena.
Among other factors, Bertoglio said that potential move would be driven by the IBC’s ongoing challenges in finding enough staff to care for its maximum of 12 residents.
Such a decision is not described in the legislation itself, and Ebelt told The Monitor in an email there are no current plans to close the IBC and that “It would be premature at this time to comment about plans for IBC, as HB 872 hasn’t yet been signed by the governor and the commission members haven’t yet been selected.”
Nevertheless, DPHHS is currently engaged in a comprehensive reform initiative involving Montana’s seven state-run health care facilities, and the IBC – “which treats patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities who need intensive treatment” – is part of the study.
The IBC was created by the 2017 Montana legislature, two years after the 2015 Montana legislature passed Senate Bill 411, which required the DPHHS to close the Montana Developmental Center of Boulder.
This initiative, done in collaboration with professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal, documented IBC’s operational challenges, which include “difficulty recruiting and retaining competent staff,” “leadership turnover” and “limited active treatment.”
According to the report, IBC “continues to struggle with high employee vacancy rates, with a third of their positions vacant. Wait list numbers increased significantly between October and November [2022]. There was no significant progress on quality indicators – and attendance at community outings dropped significantly.”
