How a Facility “In the Middle of Nowhere” Expanded Services and Became a Top 100 Critical Access Hospital in the Nation
The Problem
Glasgow, Montana (population: 3,500) is located in the far northeastern corner of the state, along the “Hi-Line.” The town is roughly 300 miles from the nearest major city in every direction—making it one of the most geographically isolated locations in the contiguous United States. In fact, researchers at Oxford University officially dubbed it the “Middle of Nowhere.”
Frances Mahon Deaconess Hospital (FMDH), a 25-bed critical access hospital, is the only healthcare facility within a 150-mile radius, serving a population of about 10,000 people. Given this isolation, it was vital for FMDH to provide as many primary and specialty services as possible. However, recruiting surgeons and other healthcare professionals to such a remote location proved extremely difficult—especially when even the nearest Walmart is 150 miles away.
Local surgeons were working to exhaustion, covering all surgical needs and on-call shifts without relief. When an orthopedic surgeon position became vacant, hospital leadership knew it would be nearly impossible to find a replacement quickly. Long-standing vacancies led to reduced services, financial losses, and growing burnout among the existing medical staff.
