GREAT FALLS — An empty lot next to Benefis Health Systems’ Women’s & Children's Center on 10th Avenue South in Great Falls will soon be transformed into a one-of-a-kind facility to assist the area’s aging population.
Benefis System hosted a groundbreaking on Thursday, May 1, 2025, for a new Healthy Aging Center, which according to Benefis is the first of its kind in the state.
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“Great Falls, and Montana in general, have an aging population, and we were really seeking ways to better serve that population with more comprehensive types of care,” said Kaci Husted, vice president of Benefis.
In 2022, the Montana Department of Public Health & 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.
Husted said the current system doesn’t really fit the needs of the healthy, active senior citizens in the community.
“What ends up happening is a lot of those healthier folks end up just discontinuing their care for a period of time, until they develop an acute illness, at which point our system is very cumbersome for them to navigate,” said Husted.
According to John Goodnow, the CEO of Benefis, Montana is the sixth-oldest state in the nation in terms of population age. He said the number of seniors is increasing, while the type of care has remained the same.
“One of the things that doesn't happen very well, generally speaking, in care for seniors is the coordination of care,” Goodnow said.
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,” Husted said in an interview in March 2025. “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.”
Goodnow said they have heard positive feedback from the community, looking forward to having this resource available.
“I think this is one of the projects that people have been most excited about of anything we've kind of ever done, and we've done tons and tons of projects over the years,” said Goodnow.
The main goal of the one-of-a-kind healthy aging center is to allow Montana’s aging population to have a proactive approach to accessible health care.
“This care model is really intended to flip that around and make it so that we have an opportunity and an avenue for healthy, active seniors to maintain their health,” added Husted.
According to Husted, the Healthy Aging Center is set to open in summer 2026.
