How Rocky Boy’s Reservation is Advancing Community Health with Construction and Renovations of Tribal Health Center
Rocky Boy Health Center Facebook
Overview of The Project
Overview of The Project
After The Chippewa Cree Tribe of Rocky Boy Montana experienced severe damages to their clinic after a massive flood in 2010, the over 6,000 Chippewa Cree enrolled tribal members were without a health center. Because of this approximately 1,200 patients per year had to travel up to four hours for medical treatment, including urgent care. After the destruction of the clinic personnel provided medical treatment out of trailers and tribal meeting spaces.
In 2019, the new Rocky Boy Health Center (RBHC) was completed, operational, and serving the members of the Chippewa Cree Nation and other community residents in and around Box Elder, MT.
The tribe has continued making additions to the RBHC since 2019 such as expanding job opportunities, adding a new health administration building for behavioral health and substance abuse services, and creating a center to advance tribal youth’s health. These projects span from 2022 with until January 2024. This blog will expand on the details of each project and some funding sources behind them.
Construction of Health Center
Construction of Health Center
New Markets Tax Credit Coalition
Through New Market Tax Credits (NMTC) the RBHC new facility increased patient rooms from 12 to 43 and accommodates 248 additional patient visits per day. Emergency/urgent treatment is available 24-hours a day for up to 36 urgent care patients, and capacity for diabetic care doubled.
The proceeds from the NMTC transaction were used to cover:
A new $7 million thermal heating and cooling system. There was no ability to bring natural gas to the project due to its rural location and therefore, the only other alternative was propane. Using propane to heat the facility in harsh winter conditions was simply expensive and impractical.
Building a $1.5 Million Urgent Care Clinic. There was a critical need for local Urgent Care, as the next closest facility is approximately 35 miles away and roadways are frequently treacherous during the winter months.
RBHC needed to extend water lines for fire suppression and potable water at a cost of $1.25 million. The Development Zone clusters new residential and tribal development in an area that is reasonably safe from natural disasters and minimizes negative environmental impacts.
Additionally, the tribe used funds through the Tribal Self-Governance Program through Indian Health Services and the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund from the Office of the Secretary according to USASpending.gov
Job Creation and Expansions Through EDA Grant
Job Creation and Expansions Through EDA Grant
COVID-19 exacerbated health problems across the reservation and the need for more healthcare capacity. The community needed more health services and looked to provide more jobs to their community.
In 2022, the Economic Development Administration invested $1 million to Rocky Boy to the Chippewa Cree Tribe of the Rocky Boy Reservation through the American Rescue Plan.
This project will provide infrastructure to support construction of the health center, which will provided critical healthcare and related workforce development services to the community. This EDA grant matched with $66,209 in local funds and was expected to create 14 jobs and generate $58,845 in private investment, according to estimates.
Health Administration Building for Behavioral Health and Substance Abuse Services
Health Administration Building for Behavioral Health and Substance Abuse Services
In May 2023, The Rocky Boy Tribal Health Center received funding to build a new $11.3 million administrative office building, allowing the RBHC to improve and expand its behavioral health and substance abuse services.
According to the Harve Weekly Chronicle the tribe performed a community health assessment in 2017 that identified mental health and substance abuse as the two main unsupported health concerns within the community.
The tribe’s 2019 Community Health Assessment was funded by the Montana Health Care Foundation, awarded to and overseen by the Chippewa Cree Wellness Coalition (CCWC), and facilitated by a team from Boston Medical Center (BMC).
Funding the Health Administration Building
Some of the funding for the Health Administration Building came from the federal New Markets Tax Credits program, partnerships with U.S. Bank, and community lender MoFi. MoFi has worked in investing in tribal health before such as funding the Fort Peck wellness center and establish a new health clinic on the Flathead Reservation. According to Harve Weekly Chronicle and Investing in Native Communities.
The new 21,661-square-foot facility will free up space in the existing clinic and allow the RBHC to expand the behavioral health and substance abuse services it offers to patients. Construction of the new administrative building has begun and it is expected to be complete in January 2024.
People watch dancers perform Thursday at the groundbreaking for the new Miyo Pimatisiwinkamik Youth Center on Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation. - (Havre Daily News/Patrick Johnston)
Miyo Pimatisiwinkamik Youth Center
Miyo Pimatisiwinkamik Youth Center
In August 2023, tribe started the groundbreaking for Miyo Pimatisiwinkamik Youth Center. The facility will take a holistic view of health by not only addressing medical needs but mental, emotional, and spiritual health. The center is designed to foster connections between young people, their peers, their elders, their culture, their languages and themselves.
According to Harve Weekly Chronicles the $20 million building will be between 25,000 and 30,000 square feet, with exam rooms, multi-purpose classrooms and offices, as well as a commercial kitchen and cafeteria along with a gymnasium with enough room for two basketball courts.
Psychologist Dr. Deborah Essert from the RBHC said to Harve Weekly Chronicle:
The needs of the area and its people are complex and no one thing is going to fix their problems but if they build effective systems of support using the well of resilience the community has already built up over generations then they can do truly great things for their children.
"At the foundation of this wellness center, is what this community already has that makes it resilient,"
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