Chronic Disease Prevention & Health Promotion

See Public Health Differently

Public health enhances quality of life in Montana by supporting healthy living in your community. From ensuring tobacco-free public spaces to helping health care providers improve patient care, it touches everyone in Montana – from birth to death. Our Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Bureau is working for you.

Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Bureau Program Spotlight

EMS and Trauma Systems: Evolving Needs vs. Fixed Infrastructure 

Public health adapts to the changing needs of our communities. Over the last decade, Montana trauma centers and EMS agencies have managed a rising injury mortality rate and increasingly complex patient conditions - yet the underlying infrastructure of decades-old workforce and funding models remains under significant strain. By tracking systemic gaps and supporting the networks that respond to over 400 EMS calls each day, public health works to align our emergency infrastructure with modern health care demands. 

Moving the Needle: The Rural Health Transformation Program  

To address these infrastructure challenges on the ground, DPHHS is utilizing targeted funding from the historic Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) to launch innovative emergency care and dispatch initiatives across rural Montana. Current state-led projects include:  

• Expanding Community Integrated Health: Funding local programs to train emergency care providers for in-home clinical evaluations and chronic disease management, reducing unnecessary ambulance transports and emergency department admissions.  

• EMS Infrastructure and Pre-Hospital Blood: Awarding grants to rural EMS agencies to fund the specialized equipment and infrastructure needed to store and administer blood products directly inside ambulances, as well as replacing other vital aging equipment like ambulances and cardiac monitors.  

• Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) Systems: Working to integrate a modernized, statewide emergency medical dispatch system across public safety answering points to optimize response tracking and resource coordination.  

The Horizon: Ongoing Priorities for System Sustainability  

While targeted RHTP investments represent meaningful progress, they are not intended to solve the larger challenges that have developed over many years. Across the country, states are modernizing policies to reflect the reality that EMS operates as both a health  care and public safety service. As Montana looks toward the future, maintaining access to timely emergency care - especially in rural and frontier communities - depends on addressing three core structural areas:  

• Workforce Development & Funding Realignment: Traditional reimbursement models are based largely on patient transportation rather than the full range of care and readiness EMS provides. Long-term stability requires evaluating sustainable funding strategies, exploring reimbursement for treatment without transport and Community Integrated Health, and continuing to support volunteer and professional recruitment.  

• Trauma Center Readiness: Hospitals absorb significant, ongoing costs to maintain trauma readiness, staff training, and uncompensated care. Establishing robust support mechanisms and exploring dedicated, non-tax funding sources remains vital to keeping local trauma bays open and designated.  

• Data and System Modernization: A strong trauma system relies on a strong EMS network. Continuously modernizing the statewide trauma registry and integrating EMS data with overall health care outcomes allows public health to accurately evaluate patient care, identify coverage gaps, and guide future policy decisions.  

Maintaining momentum requires continued collaboration among state agencies, health care organizations, local crews, and communities. Continued investment in these paired systems ensures that Montanans have access to high-quality emergency and trauma care regardless of where they live. 

To learn more about Montana’s EMS, Trauma System and Injury Prevention programs, check out our website: https://dphhs.mt.gov/publichealth/emsts/