MISSOULA — Imagine your child needing specialized medical care but you have to drive hundreds of miles — sometimes every week — to get to the right doctors.
There's now a new healthcare option for Western Montana families through Shriner's Children's Spokane which is available in Missoula.
A celebration on Friday marked the opening of the new outreach clinic located at Northern Rockies Orthopaedics on South Avenue.
Shriner's Children's Spokane is bringing their team of orthopedic surgeons, nurses and other critical staff to Missoula every other month.
The Missoula facility will operate in conjunction with a similar clinic in Kalispell.
The new service offers time-saving care for hundreds of families in the area who no longer have to drive their children to Spokane to see their care team.
“That's the one thing. I feel like in Missoula we've lost some different health providers for orthopedics and we don't have any kids orthopedics at all anymore,” said one mother, Mariah Westre. “So, we’re just really grateful to have someone literally down the street and have such a good care team. And Shriner's is amazing for our family. So, to have them in our backdoor right now is just incredible.”
“Shriners in our community has been long standing and very supportive of kids who need help, especially in the medical field. “And we’re excited to expand that and have Shriner's have a footprint over here,” said Dr. Larry Stayner of Northern Rockies Orthopaedics.
Northern Rockies Orthopaedics is located in Suite 101 at 2740 South Avenue West in Missoula.
