Greater Valley Health Center CEO Mary Sterhan To Step Into Retirement
Sterhan has overseen the community health center’s departure from Flathead County, an expansion of services and begun preparation for impacts to Medicaid work requirements
By Zoë Buhrmaster
When Mary Sterhan took over the helm as Greater Valley Health Center’s CEO in 2019, she met with board members to develop a list of priorities. With a three-to-five-year time frame in mind and a list in hand, she got to work.
The health center has provided integrated medical, dental and behavioral healthcare for all ages since 2007, operating under the umbrella of Flathead County. In 2021, the healthcare center separated from the county and became independent, bringing with it an “impetus for change,” Sterhan said.
The organization quickly began expanding its services. Sterhan oversaw the purchase of Sykes Pharmacy, the addition of school-based services in Kalispell and Evergreen and the acquisition of the Evergreen Clinic, which saw 2,000 patients last year.
“Those things really stepped us forward in meeting the needs of the community,” Sterhan said.
When the community health center left the county, it had a roughly $5 million dollar budget and 52 employees. Today, Greater Valley has a $26 million budget and double the staff.
Anticipating Medicaid work requirements and increased paperwork for patients from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Sterhan is currently supervising a move to transform front desk receptionists into patient navigators. As a first point of contact, navigators will be able to help patients fill out Medicaid paperwork, apply for work verification and set up appointments with providers.
“There’s a jungle ahead of them,” Sterhan said. “We’ve got two pretty solid reasons to try to help folks to get the resources they’re entitled to.”
The switch will also help Greater Valley keep resources available to community members. Currently, around 27% of patients are uninsured. With Medicaid work requirements, that number could increase to as high as 50% uninsured on their rosters, Sterhan said, which would result in less funds for Greater Valley to work with.
Greater Valley has hired on a new manager to help train employees in the new program, which Sterhan hopes to roll out in October or November.
“It’s going to be a juggling act,” Sterhan said. “We’re really trying to take a proactive role.”
The community health organization is also finalizing steps to move into a new, bigger building in southern Kalispell, next to Lion Park and the Community Action Partnership of Northwest Montana.
“Really, completing this building and getting them moved into a new building kind of completed the list,” Sterhan said of the goals she’d written down at the beginning of her tenure. “I think they’re ready to take that next step. It’s just time to hand it off.”
Born and raised in the Flathead Valley, Sterhan said she felt grateful to be a part of building a multi-dimensional service that she wishes her family had growing up.
“For me, it’s always been about the patients and the community and providing services,” Sterhan said. “I think that’s one of the things Greater Valley excels at, meeting patients where they’re at. Sometimes they need housing, sometimes food. I just really appreciated that about this role.”
With the flexibility of retirement, Sterhan said she looks forward to spending more time with her granddaughter.
Sterhan will stay on until the end of 2025 as recruitment firm Prothman Company leads the hiring process. The position will be posted on the organization’s website at greatervalleyhealth.org sometime next week.