PNR Region

General Information

Situated along the Canadian border in western United States, Montana is the fourth largest state in the nation with 147,138 square miles. It is a rugged, rural state with a sparse population. The capital is Helena, located just east of the Rocky Mountains. Towards the east and south is Billings, Montana's largest city, with a population of 90,000 people. Montana is the home of Yellowstone National Park, the first and oldest national park in the world (established on March 1, 1872), and Glacier National Park. Montana contains 56 counties, of which 45 qualify as "frontier" counties. The largest (area) county is Rosebud, with 5,140 square miles, located north and east of Billings. The most populated county, Yellowstone, includes the city of Billings.

Montana has a population of just over 967,000 residents according to the 2008 U.S. Bureau of the Census Population Estimates Program. Montana's population is 87.9% white, 6.4% American Indian/Alaska Native and 3.0% Hispanic with 1.7% reporting more than one ethnicity. The largest tribal organizations in Montana include the Blackfeet Nation, the Crow Tribe, and the Fort Peck Tribes (Sioux and Assiniboine).

Medically Underserved Areas/Populations

MUA/Ps are areas or populations designated by the Shortage Designation Branch, part of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) as not having sufficient access to medical care. If an area is designated MUA, then the entire population is covered, if the designation is MUP, only a specific population is. Occasionally, regions receive a designation of GOV, which means that the state governor requested that the area be included due to local barriers and/or health conditions. The MUA/P designation is often important when obtaining grants or other funding. The most accurate and up-to-date source of this information is the HRSA database.

State Health and Statistics

• Association of State and Territorial Health Officials' Map of Montana contains data on health equity infrastructure, funding allocation and expenditures, and strategic plans and partnerships.
• Eastern Montana Telemedicine Network is a consortium of not-for-profit medical and mental health facilities linking health care providers and their patients throughout Montana and Wyoming.
• FastStats, from the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), are a quick reference to state birth and death rates with links to additional report data.
• Health Information Gateway, from the Office on Women's Health, is a database of comprehensive health data for both women and men searchable by state and county.
• State Health Facts Online, sponsored by the Kaiser Family Foundation, provides current state health data on topics such as demographics, insurance coverage and health status.
• State and Local Health Data Sets, from Partners in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce (PHPartners), includes a comprehensive list of resources containing state-specific public health information.
• Trust for America's Health, a non-profit and non-partisan disease prevention organization, provides state and national health indicators, federal funding levels, health disparities and statistics regarding cancer and birth defects tracking.

Resources about Special Populations

This section includes groups of individuals who share common characteristics that are distinctive from the general population. These characteristics may include racial and/or ethnic background, socioeconomic status, geographic location, and age. The characteristics of special populations are important to be aware of as they can affect the population's health status.

• EthnoMed, from the University of Washington's Health Sciences Library, and Harborview Medical Center, contains medical and cultural information for health care providers and related professions regarding different immigrant and refugee populations in the Pacific Northwest region.
• Frontier Education Center, from the National Center for Frontier Communities, defines characteristics of frontier counties and contains maps, reports on special health needs of frontier populations, and policy issues.
• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Health (LGBT), from the CDC, contains resources about LGBT health concerns, health issues, and  national LGBT resources.
• Indian Health Services - Billings Office serves the healthcare needs of over 70,000 Native Americans and Alaska Native residents residing in Montana and Wyoming.
• Montana Office of Rural Health & Area Health Education Center (AHEC) are housed together and serve rural Montana communities by collecting and disseminating rural health information and increasing access to quality health care.
• Rural health and human services, from the US Department of Health and Human Services Rural Assistance Center, is a web portal of Montana rural health contacts, organizations, tools, maps, news and events.

Resources for Libraries and Information Professionals

• The Regional Medical Library (RML) for the Pacific Northwest Region (PNR) is located at the University of Washington Health Sciences Library (HSL) in Seattle.
• Montana's NN/LM Resource Library is Montana State University, Bozeman.
• Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Medical Library Association (PNC/MLA) includes Montana as part of a regional organization of medical librarians and health information professionals in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and two regions of Canada (Alberta and British Columbia), and is an official chapter of the Medical Library Association
  (MLA).
• Billings Area Health Sciences Information Consortium (BAHSIC) is a group of public and private libraries that work together to meet the information needs of health sciences professionals, students and consumers in the Billings area.
• Montana does not have an American Library Association (ALA)-accredited library and information studies school, but distance education programs are available.
• Montana State Library is the central reference library for state government and legislature, working to strengthen Montana libraries, and ensures that Montanans who are visually or physically handicapped are provided access to library resources.
• Montana Library Association is the state association open to all library workers in Montana and serves as a forum for exchanging information and learning about the changing world of libraries and information science.