On a cold but sunny Wednesday morning, a group of Stevensville, Ravalli County officials and Bitterroot Health representatives grabbed shovels for the official groundbreaking for Bitterroot Health's new Stevensville facility.

The row of shovels dug into a prepared area on the 11-acre construction site on Kootenai Road, just off US 93 west of the Stevensville turnoff. Bitterroot Health is the valleywide name of Marcus Daly Hospital in Hamilton and its primary care facilities in Darby, Victor and Corvallis. The name was changed to reflect the broader scope of services and locations. The Hamilton hospital is now Bitterroot Health – Daly Hospital.

Bitterroot Health CEO John Bishop gave a brief overview of what the new medical center will provide. The 21,000 square foot clinic will have seven-day-a-week services with urgent care, primary care, women's health and specialty services, a lab, ambulance services and rehabilitation.

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Bishop told KLYQ Radio, "We did our planning and feasibility of what the community could support today and in the years to come. From that study came the plans you see today, and we're excited to bring imaging and lab and specialty services, in addition to primary care and rehabilitation services."

Bitterroot Health CEO John Bishop at Stevensville groundbreaking. (Steve Fullerton, Townsquare Media)
Bitterroot Health CEO John Bishop at Stevensville groundbreaking. (Steve Fullerton, Townsquare Media)
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The rehab services will include physical, occupational, speech therapy and an aquatic therapy pool. Bishop also said the 11 acres of land will allow medical center growth in the future.

Bitterroot Health has grown from the original Marcus Daly Memorial Hospital in Hamilton, which just recently rated by a national rating service as the number one "critical access" hospital in Montana and, more importantly, number four in the nation, from over 350 other hospitals.

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