Author

Michael Cast

Michael Cast is a print and visual journalist specializing in environmental storytelling and profiles. He has written for newspapers and magazines around Montana, and recently did time reporting on Superfund, grizzly bears and trout at The Montana Standard in Butte, America.

Michael's Latest Articles

Community’s next chapter

By Michael Cast ● Community for Profit ● January 28, 2025

Do higher wages for nurses, a new CEO and a growing staff signal a bright future for Missoula’s private equity-owned Community Medical Center?

Inside Community’s post-pandemic problems

By Michael Cast ● Community for Profit ● January 24, 2025

“It’s profoundly sad,” a nurse at Missoula’s Community Medical Center said. “You don’t want the community to feel like they can’t come here and get good care.”

The selling of Community

By Michael Cast ● Community for Profit ● January 22, 2025

A former vice president of Missoula’s Community Medical Center: “I don’t think ‘for profit’ and ‘healthcare’ belong in the same sentence.”

Care on hold

By Michael Cast ● Community for Profit ● January 20, 2025

An out-of-state transfer center is among troubling accounts from current and former employees at Missoula’s private equity-owned Community Medical Center.

Community Medical Center named in U.S. Senate investigation’s report

By Michael Cast ● Health ● January 15, 2025

As senators scrutinize the practices of hospitals owned by private equity firms, a new report includes the alleged sexual assaults of at least 15 female patients in Community Medical Center’s emergency department.

UM campus bookstore turns the page

By Michael Cast ● Business ● December 15, 2023

Follett Higher Education Group, a campus retail giant, is close to signing a contract to run the University of Montana bookstore, a potentially lucrative deal for Follett and UM—especially if Griz merch keeps flying off the shelves.