Benefis Health System

In 1892, five Catholic Sisters opened the Columbus Hospital in Great Falls. Six years later, a Methodist group opened Deaconess Hospital. The two hospitals merged in 1996 under the new Benefis name, derived using Latin root words “bene” (meaning good) and “fis” (faith).

2001: An era of growth begins with the building of a Peace Hospice of Montana home, then Sletten Cancer Institute (2005), South Tower (2009), the Orthopedic Center of Montana (2010), Medical Office Building 4 (2011), The Grandview (2013), Women’s and Children’s Center (2021), and the Helena Specialty Center (2024).

2017: An investment in a first-generation Da Vinci Xi robotic system for general surgeons, gynecologists, and urologists improves surgeons’ abilities to see and use their hands. Now Benefis has two second-generation Da Vinci XI systems, which are heavily used in the operating rooms for smaller incisions and quicker recoveries. Benefis Sletten Cancer Institute acquires the first Varian Edge Radiosurgery System in Montana to provide precise targeting of tumors.

2019: A newly expanded Emergency Department helps Benefis respond to crisis with a new level of flexibility and technology, which proves vital during the brewing COVID-19 pandemic.

2021: New MRIs, all with artificial intelligence, make for quicker and clearer scans. Patients appreciate the speed and also that the MRIs are wide bore so they have more space inside.

2022: Benefis becomes the first in Montana to offer ROSA-assisted total knee surgery, setting a new bar in joint revision and replacement surgeries for speedier recoveries and better-performing joints. The first transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedures at Benefis see patients dramatically impacted for the better by this alternative to open-heart surgery.

2023: Benefis becomes the first place in the world to install the Artis Icono ceiling imaging system. With artificial intelligence ensuring positioning to submillimeter accuracy, the imaging system processes 300 million data points to generate an incredible X-ray view into a patient for resolution of clogged arteries, heart valve replacement and other structural heart programs, potential stroke treatment, pacemaker installation, foot circulation problems, and many more interventional procedures from head to toe. It’s safer and faster for patients. A new hybrid cath lab, which can convert instantly into an operating room should a patient suddenly need to switch to an open surgery, debuts. That is crucial time saved when someone’s life is on the line. Benefis also simultaneously upgrades the cath lab sister suite and two interventional radiology suites.

2024: Benefis debuts a larger, more powerful Mercy Flight helicopter to help us get to patients across the region. To stay on the cutting edge of patient care, Benefis switches to Epic for its electronic medical record system.

In 2006, two-thirds of all Benefis patients came from Cascade County, Montana, with the remainder coming from the remaining counties in north-central Montana.^[1] The region is five times the size of the state of New Jersey.^[2]

Benefis has more of an economic impact on the city of Great Falls than any other industry or employer.^[3] In 2008, it was the north-central Montana region's largest private employer.^[2]

As of 2008, Benefis was considered the "sole community provider" by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which resulted in a $1.5 million annual federal payment to the health system.^[4] If total hospital admissions at any other healthcare facility in the community rises above 8 percent, Benefis would be required to share that payment equally with the other provider(s).^[4] The same year, Benefis said Medicare patients accounted for 48 percent of the health system's admissions, but contributed only 40 percent of its revenues.^[4] Patients with private insurance represented 26 percent of admissions but accounted for 40 percent of revenues.^[4] Benefis said that it lost money on its dialysis, emergency room, and inpatient mental health services.^[4]

In November 2010, a study conducted by the University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research found that health care was now the largest sector of the Cascade County economy. Although the military (represented primarily by Malmstrom Air Force Base) had long been assumed to be the city's economic driver, health care now accounted for 16 percent of the county's non-agricultural earnings, compared to 14 percent for military activities.^[5] Benefis, the researchers found, not only employed 10 percent of the county's entire workforce, but also accounted for 10 percent of its earnings.^[5] Health care represented more of Cascade County's total economy (14 percent) than in other large Montana cities such as Billings (12 percent) or Missoula (12 percent), or in Montana as a whole (9 percent).^[5] Health care also appeared to be the primary driver of economic growth and employment in the county, with health care employment rising 4.2 percent from 2008 to 2009 (while construction, finance, and transportation saw major drops).^[5]

Benefis Health System was the largest hospital in Montana as of March 2011.^[6]

In July 2005, Benefis announced it was partnering with MedCath Corp. to construct an $11 million cardiac hospital on its east campus.^[7] MedCath owned 49 percent of the cardiac hospital, and had the option to invest in the physical property as well.^[8]

The tower was originally expected to cost $50 million,^[9] but by mid-2006 the cost had risen to a "staggering" $75.2 million.^[10] Construction on the now seven-story medical tower began in September 2006.^[10] Although only a year had passed since announcement of the MedCath deal, the tower's purpose had radically changed. Benefis said the tower, which would have 88 private rooms and connect with the operating room tower and medical building via an existing skyway, would provide space for obstetrics, neonatal intensive care, and pediatrics in addition to cardiology.^[10] The new medical tower opened on August 25, 2009, at a final cost of $85 million.^[11] Private donations paid for $3.5 million of the cost, while federal earmarks contributed another $1.2 million.^[11]

In 2008, a report on the amount of public benefit hospitals returned to the community, released by the Montana Attorney General's office, said that Benefis ranked eighth out of 11 hospitals in the state.^[12] The report said Benefis received $7.5 million in tax breaks in 2006, but donated less than $4.7 million in charity care.^[12] Benefis disagreed with the report, noting that the document says the company broke even on Medicaid but that the hospital actually lost $3.2 million on providing the service.^[12] If the correct figure were used, Benefis officials said, the health system would have ranked fifth.^[12]

The following year, the Attorney General's office reported that Benefis received $5.7 million in tax exemptions in 2007.^[13] Although Benefis gave charity care to more people (4,082) in 2007 compared to 2006 (3,493), it donated $4.68 million in charity care (a decrease of $11,000 from the previous year).^[13]

By 2008, charity care constituted 2.95 percent of Benefis' operating budget (up from 1.5 percent in 2006).^[14] Based on the ratio of charity care to operating budget, Benefis ranked fourth-highest among nonprofit hospitals in the state.^[14]

Since its founding, Benefis had been accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO)^[15] (which is now known as the Joint Commission). Under federal law and in most states, JCAHO accreditation was a condition of licensure and permitted a health care facility to receive Medicaid, Medicare, TRICARE, or Indian Health Service reimbursement. However, Section 125 of the Medicare Improvement for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA) changed JCAHO's accreditation authority. As of July 15, 2010, JCAHO had to seek approval from a federal agency, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS), for it to retain its accrediting power. CMS was required under MIPPA to also permit at least two other accrediting agencies to "deem" healthcare facilities ready to receive federal healthcare funds, and to offer accreditation directly to healthcare facilities. As of 2011, the Joint Commission accredited 82 percent of the hospitals in the United States.^[16]

In January 2012, Benefis announced it would no longer seek accreditation by JCAHO, saving the hospital roughly $80,000 every three years. Benefis said it would seek direct accreditation from CMS, which was provided free of charge.^[15]

Benefis has received numerous awards for its provision of health care. In 2005, HealthGrades (a company which ranks quality of care) listed Benefis as among the top 5 percent of hospitals in the nation for the quality of its care.^[17] In 2006, HealthGrades listed Benefis' cardiology and gastrointestinal services "number one" in Montana.^[18] HealthGrades also listed Benefis among the top 5 percent of hospitals in the country for the quality of its orthopedic services, and in the top 10 percent nationally for joint-replacement surgery and treatment of stroke.^[18] Benefis also won a Specialty Excellence Award recipient for its orthopedic, joint replacement, and stroke care.^[18] It also gave the hospital five-star ratings (for above-average patient outcomes) in the areas of bowel obstruction, pneumonia, respiratory failure, sepsis, and stroke.^[18] In 2006 and again in 2007, Benefis was once again listed in the top 5 percent of hospitals delivering high-quality health care.^[17]

In 2006, the American Society for Bariatric Surgery gave Benefis its Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence designation, recognizing it for the quality of its care and the high percentage of positive patient outcomes.^[19]

The Sletten Cancer Institute received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the American College of Surgeons for the quality of its cancer care.^[20] It won the accolade a second time in 2008, one o only 66 cancer centers in the entire United States to achieve the honor.^[21]

• American Bar Association. State Antitrust Enforcement Handbook. Chicago, Ill.: American Bar Association, 2003.

• Benefis Health System official Web site