We are proud to be a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC),meaning we are able to provide primary health care services right here in rural Montana. Thanks to the bi-partisan federal support given to community health centers (CHCs) like SMC, we are able to provide high quality, patient-centered care so that we may serve everyone, including vulnerable, uninsured or underserved individuals and families. In addition, CHCs are committed to increasing the overall health of the community and reducing overall healthcare costs. This model of care emerged in the 1960s to target the roots of poverty by combining the resources of local communities with federal funds to establish neighborhood clinics and it has been a huge success. Today, there are over 1,400 CHCs serving more than 27 million people at over 10,400 sites in all 50 states, saving the healthcare system over $24 billion annually thanks to their lower cost of care and their patients’ reduced emergency room visits and hospitalizations.

• Patient-centered: A partnership among practitioners, patients and their families ensures that decisions respect patients’ wants, needs and preferences, and that patients have the education and support they need to make decisions and participate in their own care.

• Comprehensive: Our care teams have adopted a whole health approach in treatment and care. This encompasses integrated physical and behavioral health care needs, including prevention and wellness, acute care and chronic care.

• Coordinated: Care is unified across all elements of the broader health care system, including specialty care, hospitals, home health care, community services and support.

• Accessible: Patients are able to access services with shorter waiting times, "after hours" care, 24/7 electronic or telephone access and strong communication through health technology.

• Committed to quality and safety: Clinicians and staff enhance quality improvement to ensure that patients and families make informed decisions about their health.

SMC’s goal is to consistently meet these requirements while we care for and coordinate the range of patients’ care across all settings.

which results from a practice team of primary care and behavioral health clinicians working together with patients and families, using a systematic and cost-effective approach to provide patient-centered care for a defined population. This care addresses any mental health and substance abuse conditions, health behaviors (including their contribution to chronic medical illnesses), life stressors and crises, stress-related physical symptoms and ineffective patterns of health care utilization.

SMC has two clinics. The Chinook clinic is located at 419 Pennsylvania Street inside the Chinook Medical Center. The Harlem clinic is located at 116 Main Street South inside the Little Rockies Retirement Center.

The name of our community health center pays homage to Lloyd D. Sweet. Sweet was born in Ubet, Montana in 1889. In his early years, he and his family moved to Chinook and he graduated from Chinook High School in 1909. In 1913, Sweet graduated from Stanford University with a major in economics. Following graduation he returned to Chinook where he worked his father's land and built a flour mill. In 1918 he joined the Navy and eventually settled in Watsonville, California where he built his fortune in the stock market while working in the auto parts industry. Mr. Sweet passed away in 1988.

Lloyd Sweet greatly impacted Chinook with his many important projects and became known as "Chinook's Fairy Godfather." Throughout the community, Lloyd Sweet left a strong legacy. Sweet Medical Center is one of the projects that he helped to fund and develop.

The local nursing home, Sweet Home was also a benefactor of Lloyd D. Sweet’s generosity. Sweet Medical Center and Sweet Home are completely separate entities and are both extremely grateful for Mr. Sweet’s foresight and generosity.