Montana nursing homes continue closing, residents, families stressed

November 20, 2022

Lonna Fox moved to Missoula in 1994 when her daughter, Sarah Koke, had her first baby, and “Grandma Lonna” has lived near her family ever since.

She helped raise her grandkids even though she’s in a wheelchair from an old spinal cord injury.

In 2013, Fox needed extra help, and she moved into Hillside Health and Rehabilitation.

But Fox is still part of the family. She has her daughter, her daughter’s husband, grandchildren and step-grandchildren in Missoula, and they go to the park and celebrate birthdays together.

This summer, Hillside announced it would close. A discharge letter said Fox, a Medicaid patient, would move to Great Falls, 165 miles and one mountain pass away.

Read the full story from Daily Montanan here.