Congressman Troy Downing Visits Townsend
 | Author:
Audrey Plymale
Candidate for Broadwater County Clerk of District Court |
MT43 News Staff Reporter
After filing at the Montana Secretary of State’s office to run for the 2nd District US Congress seat, incumbent Troy Downing made a stop at Billings Clinic Broadwater to tour the updated hospital facility.
Downing traveled from Washington D.C. after the US House of Representatives recessed because of what Downing characterized as the Democrats forcing the shutdown over “some very unfortunate incidents in Minneapolis,” as reported in a Billings Gazette article by Alex Mitchell February 20.
Congressman Downing said in an interview he is especially interested in how rural hospitals such as Billings Clinic Broadwater are faring, since he served as Montana State Auditor under Governor Greg Gianforte. During a tour with CEO of the hospital, Justin Tiffany, Downing expressed his full support of critical access facilities. “I see so much difference in health care between the haves and the have nots. Having access to these local hospitals offers essential healthcare to everyone,” he said.
He went on to explain that as part of President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” the rural health transformation bill set aside $50billion for rural healthcare, of which Montana will receive the 4th largest allocation in the country. “We must stay in touch with rural health care stakeholders to make sure they have adequate nursing staff and that we meet the need for providers. It is so hard to convince providers to serve in small communities,” he said.
He went on to say that the government has had a slow response to adequately financing Medicaid: “We have yet to solve the problem of how to serve citizens on both Medicaid and Medicare. The bottom line is trying to provide services for both government programs.”
According to Tiffany the facility offers telehealth services, which allows patients to reach specialty services they would not ordinally have access. Downing is interested in telehealth services because it offers not only specialty providers but also meets the needs of rural residents for mental health issues.
Currently three other candidates have filed for Montana’s 2nd Congressional District seat. Sam Lux, a farrier from Great Falls and Helena Attorney Brian Miller, both Democrats. Mike Eisenhauer, a cardiologist from Great Falls has filed for the office as an Independent candidate.
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PhotoCredit: Nancy Marks, MT43 News Photographer
Image 1 Caption: Congressman Troy Downing visits CEO Justin Tiffany at Billings Clinic Broadwater.
Nancy Marks, MT43 News Photographer
