Tester Secures $3 Million for 14 Montana Community Health Centers to Expand COVID-19 Testing

Funding will be used expand a range of testing activities to best address local needs during crisis

U.S. Senator Jon Tester today secured $3,004,376 from the Health Resources and Services Administration for 14 Montana Community Health Centers—including the Marias Health Center, the community health care center in Toole County, which has been hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic—to expand a range of testing activities to best address local needs during this crisis.

“We need to slow the spread of the virus so that we can safely reopen Montana as quickly as possible, but in order to do it, testing is the name of the game,” said Tester. “I’m proud to have secured this funding for Community Health Centers across our state, which will help the folks on the front lines of this crisis keep Montanans safe. But the Administration has got to do more to provide critical resources, and I’m going to keep holding Washington accountable until they fulfill their obligations to our state.”

The funds Tester announced today are part of the $25 billion in testing resources included in the Tester-backed interim coronavirus relief package signed into law last month. The $3 million will be used to expand a range of testing services across the state, including the purchase of personal protective equipment; training, outreach, procurement and administration of tests; laboratory services; and the expansion of walk-up or drive-up testing capabilities.

The funds will be split among 14 Montana Community Health Centers, including:

• Community Health Care Center, Inc. (Great Falls): $222,274
• Sapphire Community Health, Inc. (Hamilton): $124,729
• Marias Healthcare Services Inc. (Shelby): $188,044
• Yellowstone City-County Health Department Department/RiverStone Health Clinic (Billings): $326,839
• Community Health Partners Clinic (Livingston): $274,459
• Bighorn Valley Health Center, Inc. (Hardin): $249,049
• Flathead County (Kalispell): $220,699
• Lincoln County Community Health Center (Libby): $220,174
• Butte-Silver Bow Primary Health Clinic, Inc. (Butte): $166,294
• Montana Migrant & Seasonal Farm Workers Council Inc. (Billings): $140,614
• Missoula County/Partnership Health Center (Missoula): $334,474
• PureView Health Center (Helena): $98,329
• Glacier Community Health Center Inc. (Cut Bank): $144,574
• Bullhook Community Health Center, Inc. (Havre): $166,294

Tester has been working tirelessly to ensure that Montana hospitals and health care facilities are prepared to combat the COVID-19 crisis. Recently, Tester secured nearly $200 million in relief funding for 121 rural Montana hospitals, health centers, and clinics. He also sent a letter to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar urging him to guarantee that a portion of the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund will be set aside specifically for rural providers for health care expenses or lost revenues attributable to the pandemic.

Additionally, Tester secured more than $4 million for 48 rural Montana hospitals to help with pandemic response, and secured an expansion of the Paycheck Protection Program to cover Montana’s rural hospitals. He recently demanded that the Trump Administration not leave rural hospitals behind in their coronavirus response, and he voted to deliver critical, urgent relief to Montana hospitals, workers, families, small businesses, and others hardest hit by the outbreak, which included $1.25 billion for the state of Montana.

Visit tester.senate.gov/coronavirusresources for a list of resources for Montanans during the COVID-19 outbreak