Mccone County Health Center

What Mccone County Health Center does

McCone County Health Center (MCHC) is a non-profit, county-owned frontier Critical Access Hospital and clinic headquartered in Circle, Montana. Founded in 1923 as McCone County Hospital and restructured into a CAH in 2009, the facility holds 25 licensed beds (expandable to 30 under the CMS Frontier Community Health Integration Project demonstration) and operates an attached family practice clinic (McCone Clinic) staffed primarily by mid-level providers. MCHC serves a population of approximately 1,734 residents across 2,643 square miles of Eastern Montana — a Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Area where the nearest alternative hospital is 45 miles away in Glendive and the nearest tertiary hospital is 250 miles away in Billings.

The service portfolio spans inpatient acute care, skilled nursing, long-term care (up to 21 swing beds), 24-hour emergency services, family practice clinic visits, laboratory, radiology, physical therapy, infusion therapy (including selected chemotherapy), adult day care, medical equipment loans, and telemedicine-linked specialist access via Billings Clinic and Avera eEmergency. MCHC's 55 employees include three nurse practitioners/physician assistants, registered nurses, lab and radiology staff, dietary, plant, and administrative functions. Leadership comprises CEO Jacque Gardner (since June 2022) and an internal management team with multi-decade tenure.

The business model is reimbursement-driven: fee-for-service billing to Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers under CAH cost-based reimbursement rules, supplemented by Hill-Burton charity care, a federal poverty guideline-based financial assistance program, and grant funding (Helmsley Charitable Trust) for telemedicine services. Pricing transparency is provided through a CMS-compliant ChargeMaster. The facility generates no external equity or debt funding, is owned by McCone County government, and has no disclosed M&A or capital-raising activity.

Name

Mccone County Health Center

Legal name

McCone County Health Center

Website

https://mcconehealth.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1923

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

McCone County Health Center is a non-profit, county-owned 25-bed Critical Access Hospital and family practice clinic in Circle, Montana, serving approximately 1,734 residents across a 2,643-square-mile frontier service area in Eastern Montana.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Rural Critical Access Hospital Services

NAICS

Nursing Care Facilities (Skilled Nursing Facilities) (62311), Nursing and Residential Care Facilities (623), Ambulatory Health Care Services (621)

SIC

Services-Skilled Nursing Care Facilities (8051), Services-Nursing & Personal Care Facilities (8050), Services-Offices & Clinics Of Doctors Of Medicine (8011)

akta.pro primary industry

Critical Access & Rural Hospitals (HLAFAAAG)

Keywords

• Rural healthcare services
• Critical access hospital
• Primary care clinic
• Telemedicine services
• Laboratory diagnostics

Headquarters

HQ city

Circle

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Hospital Services Revenue: Fee-for-service revenue from inpatient, outpatient, emergency, acute care, skilled nursing facility, nursing facility (long-term care), observation, and in-patient pharmacy services. Reimbursement primarily through Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance.
2. Clinic Services Revenue: Family practice clinic services staffed with mid-level providers generating revenue through office visits and outpatient procedures. McCone Clinic provides primary care with revenue from patient visits and treatments.
3. Diagnostic Services Revenue: Laboratory and radiology services including x-ray, diagnostic testing, and reference lab services contracted through Intermountain Health and Billings Clinic.
4. Ancillary Services Revenue: Physical therapy (inpatient and outpatient), infusion therapy, telemedicine, and medical equipment loans generating additional revenue streams.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

McCone County Health Center operates a 25-bed Critical Access Hospital (CAH) and an attached family practice clinic (McCone Clinic) in Circle, Montana. It provides inpatient, outpatient, emergency, acute/skilled nursing, long-term care, observation, laboratory, radiology, physical therapy, infusion/chemotherapy, adult day care, telemedicine, and medical equipment loan services to the residents of McCone County and surrounding rural Eastern Montana communities.

Product overview

McCone County Health Center operates as a unified healthcare system consisting of a Critical Access Hospital (CAH) and an affiliated clinic. The CAH (25-30 bed licensed facility) serves as the core inpatient and emergency services hub, while McCone Clinic provides family practice outpatient services. These are supported by integrated departments including Laboratory, Radiology, and Physical Therapy for diagnostics and rehabilitation. The center also offers specialized services such as Infusion Therapy for chemotherapy and post-surgical care, Telemedicine connecting patients to Billings Clinic specialists, and Adult Day Care for caregiver relief. Medical Equipment loans, Financial Assistance, and Price Transparency services complete the patient support ecosystem. The CAH's swing bed program allows flexible use of beds for acute, skilled nursing, or long-term care.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Licensed 25-30 bed Critical Access Hospital providing acute care, skilled nursing facility care, long-term care, 24-hour emergency services, observation beds, and swing bed services allowing beds to be used interchangeably for acute or skilled nursing care. Reimbursement through Medicare cost-based payments, Medicaid, and private insurance.
• McCone Clinic Family practice clinic attached to the Critical Access Hospital, staffed with mid-level providers (Fred Kelly II FNP, Shelby Beery DNP, Arvin Ward PA-C). Open Monday through Friday 8:00 am - 5:00 pm (closed noon-1:00 pm and weekends), offering outpatient primary care to community residents.
• Laboratory Department Full-service laboratory providing in-house testing including CBC, metabolic panels, lipid panels, liver panels, TSH, HGB A1C, PT/INR, urinalysis, drug testing, strep tests, flu/COVID tests, and more. Also performs testing for outside providers and contracts with Intermountain Health for reference lab services.
• Radiology Department On-call radiology services offering X-ray capabilities at the facility and referral appointments. Directly linked to Billings Clinic for all radiology over-reads.
• Physical Therapy Services Contracted physical therapy providing both outpatient and inpatient therapy options through arrangements with providers such as Glendive Medical Center.
• Adult Day Care Adult day care services provided through the Critical Access Hospital, offering daytime supervision and relief for caregivers of dependent loved ones.
• Infusion Therapy Selected chemotherapy services for local cancer patients and other IV therapy and treatment services for post-surgical patients, allowing treatment at the facility without travel to larger centers.
• Medical Equipment Loan Program Provides medical equipment loans to patients at no cost; equipment selection is available for patient use.
• Telemedicine Services Direct satellite-link telemedicine services provided by Billings Clinic, connecting patients with specialized medical providers for advanced care without travel. Also includes Avera eEmergency for board-certified emergency physician access. Enables staff and community to attend meetings, education, and training on-site.
• Financial Assistance Program Hospital financial assistance program based on federal poverty guidelines for hospital services. Eligibility does not include clinic office visits. Applications are available with assistance from the Office Manager.
• Price Transparency / ChargeMaster CMS-compliant price transparency initiative providing downloadable standard charges file (ChargeMaster) and shoppable services list as required under the Hospital Price Transparency rule effective 01/01/2021.

Named customers4 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Avera eEmergencycoreTechnology or Integration · 8 February 2017MCHC has utilized Avera eEmergency services since February 8, 2017. The service provides immediate telemedicine access to board-certified emergency room physicians, giving rural providers better access to professional colleagues and a second set of eyes to help with the wide variety of situations encountered in emergency care. Grant funds from the Helmsley Charitable Trust help offset the expenses of providing these services.
• Billings CliniccoreTechnology or IntegrationMCHC contracts with Billings Clinic for radiologist services (all radiology over-reads are directly linked to Billings Clinic), reference lab services, computer support, and group purchasing services. Also provides telemedicine specialist consultations.
• Glendive Medical CentercoreTechnology or IntegrationMCHC contracts with Glendive Medical Center for dietician and physical therapist services. Glendive is the closest hospital at 45 miles away and also serves as a transport destination for the local volunteer ambulance service.
• Intermountain HealthcoreTechnology or IntegrationMCHC contracts with Intermountain Health for reference laboratory services. The full-service laboratory also performs testing for outside providers.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Glendive Medical Center: Closest hospital to MCHC at 45 miles away; also a Critical Access Hospital serving Dawson County, MT. Directly comparable as a frontier CAH providing acute, emergency, swing-bed, and outpatient services, and is a contracted service partner for MCHC's PT and dietary needs.
• Sheridan Memorial Hospital: Critical Access Hospital in Plentywood, MT serving Sheridan County in extreme northeastern Montana. Closely comparable frontier CAH operating model with similar swing-bed, telemedicine, and contracted-service structure.
• Dahl Memorial Healthcare: Critical Access Hospital in Ekalaka, MT (Carter County) serving a similarly small rural/frontier population. Direct structural peer in terms of CAH designation, swing-bed capacity, telemedicine reliance, and frontier demographic profile.
• Prairie Community Health Center: Frontier CAH/RHC network in Terry, MT and surrounding Prairie County area. Comparable model combining CAH services, rural health clinics, and frontier-population service delivery.
• Garfield County Health Center: Critical Access Hospital in Jordan, MT (Garfield County), another Eastern Montana frontier CAH with extremely low population density. Shelby Beery (MCHC's new NP) grew up in Jordan, and Garfield County's profile closely mirrors McCone County's.
• Roosevelt Medical Center: Critical Access Hospital in Culbertson, MT serving Roosevelt County — another Eastern Montana frontier CAH with comparable swing-bed capacity and telemedicine-dependent operating model.
• Frances Mahon Deaconess Hospital: Critical Access Hospital in Glasgow, MT (Valley County), serving another sparsely populated northeastern Montana county. Comparable swing-bed, telemedicine, and frontier CAH operating model.

Broad incumbents

• Billings Clinic: Regional health system in Billings, MT that serves as MCHC's telemedicine partner for specialist consultations, radiology over-reads, reference lab, computer support, and group purchasing. While MCHC is a peer customer, Billings Clinic is the broader incumbent referral destination and integrated delivery partner.
• Avera Health: Regional health system providing the eEmergency telemedicine service MCHC has used since February 2017, giving frontier/rural facilities access to board-certified ER physicians. Avera is a broad incumbent in rural telemedicine infrastructure serving similar CAH clients.

Others

• National Rural Health Association: National nonprofit advocacy and resource organization for rural healthcare providers including CAHs. Not a competitor but a key ecosystem participant influencing CAH/FCHIP policy and providing operational resources relevant to MCHC's frontier operating model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mccone-county-health-center-inc

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles17 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Mccone County Health Center