One year after opening the doors to Southwest Montana’s first adult inpatient psychiatric unit, Bozeman Health is commemorating a year of providing high-quality psychiatric care close to home, while continuing to build stronger connections across the community’s behavioral health care continuum. Since opening September 16, 2025, the Adult Inpatient Psychiatric Unit at Deaconess Regional Medical Center has served more than 480 adults requiring acute inpatient psychiatric care. The unit has expanded to serve its full 14-bed capacity and now provides a full therapeutic daily schedule, including individual and group therapy, medication management, occupational therapy, education and other therapeutic activities.

“Opening the unit was an important milestone, but opening the doors was just the beginning,” said Nicole Madden, system director of psychiatric services at Bozeman Health. “The real work has been further building the relationships, workflows and pathways that allow patients to move through the behavioral health care continuum with greater support and fewer gaps. We are incredibly proud of what our care team and community partners have accomplished together over the past year.” One of the clearest measures of the unit’s impact is the number of adults who can now receive inpatient psychiatric care locally rather than traveling out of the area.

Before the unit opened, adults requiring inpatient psychiatric care were transferred out of the community. Over the past year, Bozeman Health has been able to care for 94% of patients locally who need this level of care. The unit has served patients who require this level of care from across the state of Montana as well as North Dakota, Wyoming and Idaho. Bozeman Health has also partnered with The Help Center’s Follow-Up Program to connect patients with ongoing support after being discharged from the unit. Through the program, individuals can access counseling, community resources and other support for as long as they need it. This support helps reduce the likelihood of patients returning to crisis.

The Bozeman Health care team has been central to the unit’s success. More than 40 multidisciplinary team members – including psychiatrists, therapists and social workers, nurses, patient care technicians, peer support specialists, occupational therapists and behavioral health navigators along with clinical pharmacist support – work together to care for patients. “We are incredibly grateful to the entire Adult Inpatient Psychiatric Unit team and collaborating teams throughout the health system,” said Madden. “They have taken on the challenge of building something new while providing compassionate, safe and highly specialized care every day. Their dedication is what makes this unit possible.”

Bozeman Health recognizes that improving the health of the communities we serve is a group effort and is grateful for continuing collaboration within the Gallatin Behavioral Health Coalition. No single organization can provide all the services needed to support resilient communities; in addition to providing these crisis services, Bozeman Health joins dozens of partners in supporting individuals before, during and after a behavioral health crisis through our outpatient psychiatric clinic and same-day psychiatric services. As the Adult Inpatient Psychiatric Unit enters its second year, Bozeman Health remains committed to providing compassionate psychiatric care close to home. With support from the Bozeman Health Foundation, the health system is fundraising to add a safe, secure outdoor space to enhance therapeutic care opportunities for patients in the unit.