From Mid-Century to Modern
North Tower evolves for a new era of enhanced patient care.
South Tower Renovations Begin Dec. 15
Big changes are underway at Benefis East Campus as we take the North Tower from mid-century to modern, and a few changes are in store for the South Tower, too.
Plans include a renovation and expansion of the coffee shop, along with changes to the gift shop to help create a more efficient use of the space on Floor 1. We’re starting this project soon so it will be finished before the Café closes for renovations in March.
The renovations begin Dec. 15, and starting that day, the South Tower coffee shop location will be temporarily closed. The closure is expected to last about 10 weeks.
Coffee and Snack Options During the Closure:
- The coffee shop at the Benefis Women’s and Children’s Center will extend its hours from 7 a.m. until 2 p.m. Monday through Friday with increased staffing.
- Self-serve micro market locations (Medical Office Building 4, Sletten Cancer Institute, and the surgery waiting area) will have a larger variety of drinks and snacks available.
- Our self-serve espresso machines in the micro market locations make lattes and other specialty coffee drinks with the click of a button!
Expect these exciting changes when the coffee shop reopens:
- Expanded seating
- Nitro cold brew beverages
- Golden milk lattes and other specialty drinks
- More bakery items
- Ice cream toppings bar
To prepare for this renovation, the gift shop will be closed Dec. 3 through Dec. 5 and will reopen on Dec. 8 in a temporary location in the Malisani Conference Room on Floor 2 of the South Tower, just in time for holiday shopping. The gift shop will reopen in its permanent, renovated location on Floor 1 of the South Tower in April, offering exciting new products.
North Tower Entrance 1 Closed
The best access into the hospital will be via the South Tower Entrance 2. You can take the Concourse on the second floor of the South Tower to the North Tower for Surgery Reception and Waiting, Laboratory, and North Tower patient rooms. Detour routes will be clearly marked.
Access to the Café will be via the western entrance into the Concourse.
The patient cashier desk formerly in the North Tower is now on Floor 2 of the South Tower.
Access to the Native American Welcoming Center will be through the external door near the center.
Just as medical advancements didn't happen overnight, neither will these updates. This project is expected to last well into 2026, and we appreciate your patience as we go from mid-century to modern! For the latest updates, visit this page and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
North Tower evolves for a new era of enhanced patient care.
The roots of what became Benefis Health System date to 1892 and five Catholic Sisters setting up a hospital in an unfinished 30-foot-by-60-foot wood frame building with a door across two sawhorses to serve as a table. The Sisters got to work furnishing the four rooms with contributions from the townspeople.
“We had a need of everything, and we had nothing,” one Sister described.
The Methodists soon launched their own venture with a 20-bed hospital in 1898. Both the Columbus Hospital and Montana Deaconess Medical Center grew and evolved with the city, merging in 1996 to become Benefis.
In 1957, leaders of the Montana Deaconess leadership announced plans to renovate their hospital only to find that the historic, outdated building would be harder to finance than building a new hospital. The old hospital was renovated into a nursing home, which operated until 2019.
Deaconess leaders found a 10-acre site not far from 10th Avenue South and announced an ambitious plan to build a modern hospital. Plans evolved to include 230 beds in an eight-story building, plus a five-story nurses’ residence. The price tag for this new hospital was $4.3 million, the same cost as restoration in the 2020s. Fundraising efforts brought in $500,000 from the community, combined with federal grants and a $1.25 million loan.
In 1965, the Montana Deaconess Medical Center opened amid great fanfare.
“So up-to-the-minute are the concepts of treatment carried out in the new hospital that patients will find themselves in an atmosphere pleasingly alien to traditional notions of hospitalization,” a Great Falls Tribune reporter wrote.
Among the innovations was “an intensive care unit said to be the only one of its kind” with 24-hour monitoring of vital signs with electrical devices and round-the-clock nursing. Previously, patients had to hire a private duty nurse at extra expense to have that level of care.
The new hospital had a state-of-the-art surgery department with five operating rooms. Electric beds, carpeted patient rooms for comfort and quiet (a concept long since abandoned), an electronic intercom at the nurses stations, air conditioning throughout the building, and newfangled “crash carts,” now a standard for rapid responses.
Some criticized the project as too fancy with its modern décor and equipment.
“Even you, the visitor, may be impressed with what appears to be lavishness. Let us say to you now, right at the beginning, that in this area we have been most fortunate,” a welcome guide stated, noting the hospital was built for nearly 30% less per patient bed than the average at the time.
As Benefis grew, the 1960s hospital became the North Tower of East Campus. But, healthcare has changed a lot in the more than 60 years since its construction.
That’s why an extensive North Tower renovation project is underway to bring the building from mid-century to modern with a smarter lobby layout for better wayfinding, new energy-efficient windows in patient rooms, a café adapted to today’s needs, sufficient IT space, and more.
