Our Beginnings

Partnership Health Center began as a roundtable discussion of Missoula's widely recognized problem of medical indigence. Medical indigence in Missoula and surrounding rural communities is due more to the economic landscape of the region than a shortage of providers. ​A large number of residents are described as the “working poor,” and are either unable to afford health insurance or work for the many small businesses prevalent in the area. These residents fall into a coverage gap between private and public insurance that prevents them from seeking timely health care. 
​In addition, Missoula has a relatively high-priced housing market as compared to wages, leaving many families unable to pay for health care.

​Although a regional health center, access to basic health care is difficult for many Missoula residents. Missoula County was federally designated as a Medically Underserved Area (MUP) in 1992, and a Dental Health Professions Shortage Area (DHPSA) in 2000.

The Move to Our New Location

Private physicians, Missoula City-County Health Department, St. Patrick Hospital, and Community Medical Center joined the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the U.S. Bureau of Primary Health Care to start a clinic that would provide low-cost health care. Partnership Health Center made the most of referral networks, but quickly outgrew its small site in the Missoula City-County Health Department. 
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1989 — Started as Partners for Access Pilot Project.

1992 — Partnership Health Center received a federal grant and was established as a Federally Qualified Health Center.
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1993 — Robert Wood Johnson Foundation provides seed money to Partnership Health Center to expand program.

1999 — Facility opens at 323 West Alder Street; Pharmacy and Dental Clinic added.
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2002 — Celebrated 10 years as Missoula's Community Health Center.

2008 — Acquisition and renovation of a larger facility located in the old Creamery building in downtown Missoula.
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2009 — Dental clinic's new location at the Creamery building opens and Pharmacy is expanded at the Alder Street location.

​Working Together

Partnership Health Center is a nonprofit 501(c)(3), administered through the Missoula City-County Health Department.
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Today, Partnership Health Center provides medical, dental, behavioral health, pharmacy, and ancillary services to more than 10,000 patients from Missoula and surrounding rural counties. Partnership Health Center is the proud recipient of generous community support. The list below includes some of our generous supporters:

  • City of Missoula
  • Missoula County
  • Missoula City-County Health Board
  • St. Patrick Hospital
  • Community Medical Center
  • Local Physicians, Specialists, Dentists, & Mental Health Providers
  • United Way of Missoula County
  • The Chutney Foundation
  • The Wagon Wheel Foundation
  • Delta Dental
  • The Dennis Washington Foundation
  • The Gallagher Foundation
  • Holy Spirit Parish
  • Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services
  • The Montana Health Care Foundation
  • The John A. Hartford Foundation
  • The Margaret A. Cargill Foundation
  • University of Montana
  • HRSA Bureau of Primary Healthcare
  • Network of Local Social Service Agencies

Our Mission

"To promote optimal health and wellbeing for all through comprehensive, patient-focused, accessible and equitable care."
This mission is fulfilled through the provision of a full range of primary care services including check-ups; care for chronic illnesses such as diabetes; high blood pressure and heart disease; care for injuries; immunizations; on-site pharmacy services; behavioral health services; women's health care; prevention and wellness education; dental services; and referrals to specialists in the community through medical case management. Partnership Health Center also coordinates programs specifically for people who are homeless and people who are living with HIV.

Community Need

Given the high cost of medical and dental services, treatment is often prohibitively expensive for those without health care coverage. The state of Montana ranks 44th in the nation for percentage of population covered by health insurance. Nineteen percent of the state's total population is uninsured, the percentage rises to 22 percent for Missoula, and an alarming 27 percent for rural communities. Furthermore, an additional 9.4 percent are at high risk for being uninsured, meaning that their insurance is intermittent.
People without health insurance either go to emergency rooms for treatment or self-diagnose without seeing a doctor, sometimes forgoing medical attention for up to 10 years. This approach to health care inevitably leads to conditions becoming unnecessarily acute due to lack of early medical, dental, or psychiatric intervention.

Who are the Uninsured?

A profile of Montana's 171,000 uninsured residents showed that 86% are white, 92% have a high school education, more than 70% are above the poverty level, and 77% are employed. That means that many uninsured Montanans are from households with higher education, and middle-income levels who are employed.
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FTCA-Deemed Health Center

This health center is a Health Center Program grantee under 42 U.S.C. 254b, and a deemed Public Health Service employee under 42 U.S.C. 233(g)-(n).
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Partnership Health Center has been awarded Level 3 PCMH 14 Recognition by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).