26 Sep, 2025
Pineapple’s Michelle Blackie explores behavioural health in rural and frontier systems in the United States, places where critical access hospitals often serve as the only point of care for miles in every direction. In these settings, a single hospital must be everything for everyone: emergency department, primary care, mental health provider, and community lifeline. That reality demands an extraordinary level of agility in service delivery, from staff who wear multiple hats to facilities that need to flex and adapt to every kind of need. Michelle is joined by Elizabeth Johnson, Assistant Professor at Montana State University, and together they examine the unique challenges of providing behavioural health care in these environments, explore the design solutions that make a difference, and hear stories from the frontlines about resilience, innovation, and the power of community.
Elizabeth is an Assistant Professor (tenure track) at Montana State University – Mark & Robyn Jones College of Nursing in Bozeman, Montana. She teaches Design of Healthcare Delivery Systems, which is an inter-professional graduate course offering with College of Nursing (Clinical Nurse Leader and DNP students) and College of Engineering students (industrial, mechanical, healthcare systems engineering students). Her nursing research background is in data and systems science, which shapes current projects evaluating the functioning of healthcare teams within various care delivery environments and settings. She is involved in technology innovation and digital health device development, with funding awarded from the Montana State University/U.S. Economic Development Administration, American Nurses Association, and the acceptance to the National Science Foundation- National Innovation Corps programme.
