BUTTE, Mont. – Public health officials in Butte are gearing up to address the city’s most pressing health concerns with the upcoming completion of the Community Health Needs Assessment.
This assessment is updated every three years, utilizing data collected through key informants, including physicians and health providers, as well as phone surveys with local residents.
Over 400 residents in the Butte-Silver Bow area participated in the survey. While many reported good health, the percentage of respondents with fair or poor health was notably higher in Butte compared to Montana and the U.S. as a whole.
A total of 32% of respondents rated local health care resources as fair or poor, significantly higher than the national rate of 11.5%.
The primary areas of concern for residents are mental health and substance use. Butte-Silver Bow ranks among the top-10 counties in Montana for highest suicide rates, and the figures for unintentional drug-related deaths are higher in Butte than both state and national averages.
April Keippel, Community Health Director at Intermountain Health, highlighted some of the community’s most pertinent struggles.
“We saw almost half of the community has experienced symptoms of severe depression–two or more years depressed on most days,” Keippel said. “We’ve also seen substance use, where almost half the community had been negatively impacted by substance use, either their own or someone else’s.”
“So, we’re really looking at what are the strategies that we know work in communities, and how do we bring those to Butte, in conjunction with our community partners?” Keippel continued.
Keippel anticipates that the needs assessment’s final report will be completed by late 2026.
Following this, community health officials, including the Butte-Silver Bow Health Department, Intermountain Health and Blacktail Health, will embark on a three-year implementation process to address the community’s primary needs, beginning in 2027.