The Eating Disorder Center of Montana Transitions to NonProfit Organization
Friday Dec. 6th, 2024
BOZEMAN — The Eating Disorder Center of Montana (EDCMT) is announcing its new status as a nonprofit organization to better serve the community and those seeking care in Montana.
EDCMT will continue to offer evidence-based treatment for eating disorders. Becoming a nonprofit organization will allow EDCMT to expand its services through initiatives to reduce financial barriers; provide specialized training to educate and advance eating disorder professionals; and offer community outreach and educational programs to raise awareness.
“The love, care, and dedication that we’ve poured into EDCMT will remain at the heart of everything we do,” shared Jeni Gochin, EDCMT’s co-founder and clinical director. “This change will allow us to expand our impact and deepen the meaningful, purposeful work we’ve been doing for the past 11 years.”
EDCMT, which has been operating as a for-profit company since 2013, will continue offering eating disorder treatment in Bozeman, Missoula, and virtually across the state. The treatment center offers specialized care for eating disorders at three different levels of care: outpatient treatment, intensive outpatient treatment, and a day treatment program, also known as partial hospitalization.
“EDCMT converting to a nonprofit is a natural next step to align the structure of our organization with the mission-driven work we’ve been dedicated to since day one,” shared Elysa White, EDCMT’s executive director. “We’ve witnessed the devastating impact financial barriers can have on someone’s ability to access care when they need it most, and it’s been heartbreaking. Becoming a nonprofit gives us the opportunity to remove those barriers and ensure more patients receive the care and support they so deeply deserve.”
As a nonprofit, the organization plans to expand their initiatives to reduce financial barriers to care, such as offering stipends to patients for ongoing expenses during treatment, reduced housing costs while in treatment away from home, and assistance with high insurance deductibles. Other goals of the nonprofit include educating more Montana healthcare providers on eating disorders, as well as training more professionals in specific therapeutic modalities for both adults and adolescents.
In addition to providing evidence-based eating disorder treatment, education and community outreach is a pillar of EDCMT’s nonprofit model. EDCMT will continue to offer free, educational presentations to schools, professional offices, medical facilities, community groups and more, as a way to prevent eating disorders and destigmatize mental healthcare.
White, who has been with EDCMT since 2022, will lead the organization as its executive director, alongside co-founders Gochin and Paige Reddan, its nutrition director, and the nonprofit’s new board of directors. Board members include Tanaya Carter, market president at First Western Trust; Floyd Khumalo, president and CEO of Medical Credentials Hub; board certified child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr. Raven Lipmanson; Bozeman business coach Karen Lum; and Bozeman therapist Warren Vaughan. EDCMT worked with Stillwater Strategy Partners to plan for the transition.
About EDCMT
The Eating Disorder Center of Montana (EDCMT) is a fully licensed eating disorder treatment center offering the highest level of eating disorder care in the state of Montana. Treating patients 12 years and older of all genders, and all eating disorders, EDCMT offers holistic, evidence-based treatment with a multidisciplinary team featuring advanced degree licensed therapists and registered dietitians, nurses, and a psychiatrist. EDCMT has locations in Bozeman and Missoula, and offers treatment virtually across the state. Learn more at edcmt.com.
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