KALISPELL – The Flathead Community Health Center has received a $1.29 million state grant.
Gov. Brian Schweitzer announced the grant at an event Wednesday in Kalispell. The funds will be used to boost staff and office equipment at the four-month-old facility.
While open to everyone, the center provides discounts to families who earn less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Census figures show 35 percent of the county’s population fall into that category.
Schweitzer said it was important for people to find health care close to home. He noted the closest clinics serving the county’s poor used to be in Libby and Missoula.
Schweitzer credited state Rep. Bill Jones, a Bigfork Republican, and state Sen. Dan Weinberg, a Whitefish Democrat, for pushing the legislation that provided the grant.