Raquel Castellanos has stepped down as executive director but will stay, for now, as an adviser.
Former director Wayne Chamberlain has come out of retirement to be interim director.
No single reason or problem prompted the change, and it was a mutual decision between Castellanos and the clinic's board of directors, said board president Jaime Troiana.
“Absolutely,” agreed Castellanos.
“What I loved about stepping into that role (at Blue Mountain) is that it kept me on the path I've been on for years,” Castellanos said. “I've been able to continue to work on social issues that benefit women and children and the community.”
Castellanos, who received the YWCA's Economic Empowerment of Women Award in 2005, is co-founder of the poverty-rights group Working for Equality and Economic Liberation, helped start the free Family Law Advice Clinic, and is a former staffer at Women's Opportunity and Resource Development.
“The national health care crisis has really hit home,” she said Thursday. “Over the past couple years, so many more people were coming to the clinic because they were not able to find (private) providers in the community who would take Medicaid and Medicare.”
“Blue Mountain has always been willing to step up to satisfy those needs” and continues to take all comers, especially reaching out to people with developmental disabilities and who are poor or uninsured, she said.
“I think the clinic has done an amazing job,” Castellanos said. “I think I have contributed quite a bit in helping it.”
When it opened in 1977, the clinic focused on reproductive health care for women and abortions. It has morphed into a general-medicine, all-ages family clinic that serves anyone and that embraces the “integrated therapies” of traditional and nontraditional medicine.
It also is an advocate for the poor, the uninsured, the needy and for social justice causes, said Castellanos and Chamberlain.
In the past five years, major increases in malpractice insurance, larger and ever-growing Medicaid and Medicare write-offs, lower and lower reimbursement rates - all are taking a toll on medical facilities, particularly small, general-health, open-door clinics, she said.
Meanwhile, Blue Mountain's role changes as medicine itself changes. Just this year, Planned Parenthood stopped offering surgical abortions at its Missoula clinic, leaving just Blue Mountain as the sole provider for Missoula County.
Castellanos said she's made progress retiring the clinic's debt.
“All nonprofits are challenged these days,” she said. “Part of the challenge in Montana is that we don't have the corporate base that is available in other states. We have many generous donors, but there are so many causes that are equally worthy.
“I brought in some out-of-state foundations and new donors,” she said. “I really tried to solidify the base of support for the clinic. ... That legacy is there.”
“Raquel did a great job bringing in new donors; her strength lies in her fundraising and advocacy work,” Troiana said. “She was a great ambassador for clinic.”
Castellanos said she is in awe of the clinic's staff.
“There is so much dedication and compassion for our patients,” she said. “It makes it such a unique place. ... I'll always be part of that family, and that means a lot to me.”
Chamberlain said he has a task list that includes a top-to-bottom review of everything at the clinic, including enlisting anyone affiliated with the clinic “to bring their best ideas forward;” to take a fresh look at the clinic's business plan, budget and resource allocation; to help the board develop a long-range strategic plan; and to help find, hire and train a future director for the clinic.
Chamberlain said he isn't interested in the permanent job.
“I may feel in my brain that I'm 35, but in fact, I am almost 60,” he said. “I filter things through a 59-year-old's experience.”
“There are certainly going to be changes at Blue Mountain Clinic, but I don't know what they are going to be,” Chamberlain said. “I'm just listening and watching and reading.”
The board plans to begin the search for a new director after the first of the year.
“We are going to try locally (first) and see what kind of response we get,” Troiana said, but the board may expand the search regionally or nationally.
“It is a very demanding position,” Castellanos said. “I was just taking a look at my life. ... Being a single mother with two young kids, I wanted to make sure I was giving them everything they need.”
She said she'll work with the clinic as long as she is needed, then decide a future.
“I've poured my heart and soul into being a social activist in Missoula for 14 years,” she said. “I'll still be around.”
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