Welcome to Blueprint of Hope. A blog that inspires the inspired, educates on mental health, and shares abundant joy.

Located at the edge of Montana’s capital city and standing three stories tall is a children’s mental health hospital you can see right through. And we like it that way! With windows that stretch from floor to ceiling and a model of care that celebrates adversity, our team believes in doing mental health care differently…and it’s made all the difference. That’s why this isn’t just any ol blog, it’s an inspiring one highlighting our innovative care programs, educating our community on mental health, giving a voice to patients, recognizing our resilient employees, and ultimately give you an inside look at our Blueprint of Hope, Shodair’s journey of caring for Montana.

Welcome to Blueprint of Hope. A blog that inspires the inspired, educates on mental health, and shares abundant joy.

Discover our State-of-the-Art Facility

From individual patient rooms to flexible workstations, our new building was intentionally designed to meet the needs of both our patients and our staff. Jump on in and learn about what you can expect at Shodair Children’s Hospital.

Get to Know Our Dedicated Team of Experts

Together, we’ve built a community that doesn’t just treat adversity, but chooses to walk through it! Get to know the mental health professionals and team of specialists who make it their mission to heal, help, and inspire hope.

A teacher and student sit at drums in a music therapy session

A Rhythm of Healing

To heal, help and inspire hope – three simple words, one enormous call to action. By both nature and design, our mission at Shodair is an active and living declaration.

Hereditary Cancer Screenings: Empowering Your Health Through Medical Genetics
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Costco Partnership Brings Healing and Support for Shodair Patients
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6 Tips for Transitioning Back to School
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Inspiring Healing through Local Food: Shodair Receives $15.5K Farm Grant
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Music Therapy: A Rhythm of Healing 
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Employee Spotlight: Shodair Unit Assistants
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Today’s Skills, Tomorrow’s Future
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Suicide in Children: A Guide for Parents
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MSU Montanathon: Dancing for Children’s Mental Health
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Creating Safe Environments in an Open Space
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Newborn Screenings: Leading Genetics in a Rural State
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Shodair Pharmacy: Bringing Relationship to Medicine
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Employee Spotlight: Katie Wahl
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Employee Spotlight: Rosemary Miceli
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What is Speech Therapy and Does My Child Need It?
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A Resounding Patient Voice
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Building Roots in Shodair’s Garden Space
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A Network of Miracles, A Community of Hope
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Today’s Skills, Tomorrow’s Future
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Creating Spiritual Spaces for All
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Employee Spotlight: Sarah Ryan
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Employee Spotlight: Jaclyn Haven
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Introducing Banksy, Shodair’s New Facility Dog
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Breaking Down Barriers with Intentional Design
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Employee Spotlight: Tara Starkel
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Craig Aasved: A Leader with Vision
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Building Culture from Within: Join the Team at Shodair
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Built of Montana, for Montana
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A Space Montana Children Deserve
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Shodair hosts open houses to show off its new Helena hospital
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Making Moves: Transitioning into Our New Building
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Hope is in Flight, Cheers to You!
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A Unified Montana
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CMN 2023-24 Champion
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You’re Invited: Shodair’s 2023 Genetics Symposium
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Katie Waits
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Mikel Allen
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Beth Stewart
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Shodair Welcomes STEM Learning Through STARBASE Partnership
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Luring Out-of-State Professionals Is Just the First Step in Solving Montana’s Health Worker Shortage
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Donor Highlight: A Heart for Building Healthy Communities
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Donor Highlight: Murdock Trust Invests in Montana
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Ellen Kassay, MS, GC
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Maija Trout
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Shodair receives grant to help with construction of new hospital
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Troy Downing: A win for public land access, hunters and agriculture
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Mental Health Needs of Montana’s Children Increase
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Gov. Gianforte Expands Public Access in Big Snowy Mountains
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Makenzie Chamberlin, PMHNP
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Shodair Digital Magazine
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Dakotah Hurley – 2022
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Benefactors aid children’s hospital with land donations; recreationists could also benefit
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Ray Penyak – Chief Nursing Officer
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Tom Hoffman, MD
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Meet Dakotah, Montana’s 2022 Children’s Miracle Network Champion!
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Bella Nyman – 2019
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Suicide Crisis in Montana
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Hello and Best Wishes
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Seth Simpson, MD
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Kelley Gentry
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Terry and Patt Payne Make Six-Figure Gift To Benefit Shodair
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Why do you need to care about kids in crisis?
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Shodair launches capital campaign for $66M expansion
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November Anniversaries
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Appreciation Celebration and Barbeque
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Murdoch’s Ranch and Home Supply
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Dick Anderson Construction
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Blue Cross Blue Shield
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Amy Harrison, Shodair Children’s Hospital
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Tavia Wine-Olson
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Maurice Shammel
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Shodair Receives $100,000 Gift Towards New Facility
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Prioritizing our Children’s Mental Health During Stressful Times
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Willow Sheehan, DNP, FNP-C
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Shodair named Helena’s Business of the Year
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Trauma Informed Care Benefits Everyone
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Joe McClafferty, Chief Development Officer and President of the Foundation
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Deanna Armstrong, MD
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Samantha Pierson-Hartwig, FNP
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Jaylee Chladek, RN-BSN
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Helena teen featured on Lucky Charms box to promote mental health care
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Ingrid Lovitt, Director of Government Relations
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Shodair Children’s Hospital begins demolition of old building
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Kim Wedde, Executive Assistant
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Meet Bella
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Angelo Spado, Therapist
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Meghan Erickson, APRN
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Katie Wilkins, FNP
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Lisa Marcille, FNP
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Triston Lytle, Jack Casey Therapeutic Group Home Program Manager
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Kat Ballenger, Shodair Children’s Hospital
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Nikki LaRue, APRN, Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
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Pat Kenny, Psychological Resident
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Margaret Phillips
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Kelly Haugen
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Caitlyn Patera, DNP FNP-C
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Desireé Navarro – Chief Human Resource Officer
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Heather Irby, MSW
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Bernadette Miller, Therapist
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Kristin Fearon, Therapist
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Corbin Schwanke, Administrative Director of Medical Genetics
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Shodair commercial wins Telly Awards
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John Cech
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Seth Bodnar
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Dr. Waded Cruzado
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Katie Ross – 2018
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Zeesy Bruk – 2016-2017
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Trish Dick, Spiritual Care Provider and Blue Bonnet
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Abby Timberlake, MA
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Lisa Ponfick, MD
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Kimber Pezzoni, MD
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Heather Zaluski, MD, Medical Director of Psychiatry
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Rebecca Dudek, Children’s Miracle Network Coordinator
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Willow Sheehan, NP
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Katie Seraji, Genetic Counselor
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Laura Rear, NP
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Sydney Norris, Nurse Practitioner
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Melissa Neff, Psychologist
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Jenifer Swigart, PMHNP
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Meghan Erickson, PMH
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Elize Cline, FNP, Nurse Practitioner
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Tyler Setlock, Registered Dietitian, LN
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Katherine Berry, Genetic Counselor MS, CGC
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Jaclyn Haven, Lead Genetic Counselor, MS, CGC
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Christa D. Smelko, PsyD
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Ellen Livers, Director of Government Relations
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Abdallah F. Elias, MD, FACMG, Medical & Laboratory Director
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Keith D. Foster, MD
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Jen Buscher, Director of Culture
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Keith L. Meyer, Foundation Director
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Corbin Schwanke
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Abdallah F. Elias, MD, FACMG, Medical & Laboratory Director
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Heather Zaluski, MD, Medical Director of Psychiatry
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Maria Valdenegro, CFO
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Alana Listoe, Community Relations Director
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Danielle Allen, Executive Assistant
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Craig Aasved, CEO
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Bailey Meibos, Genetic Councelor
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Breaking Down Barriers and Building Up Hope

As the only Children’s Miracle Network Hospital in Montana, we don’t just do mental health, we shine a light on it – breaking down barriers and building up hope through specialized psychiatric care, outpatient services, and a nationally-recognized genetics program. With outpatient clinics across the state, our team is passionate about creating a healthy and hopeful Montana one patient, and future citizen, at a time.