One of Montana's leading providers of behavioral health services will no longer have an operating contract with Gallatin County as of Feb. 2, the Montana Free Press reported Jan.12. Citing several breaches of its agreement, Gallatin County commissioners and County Attorney Marty Lambert notified Western Montana Mental Health Center in a letter that the agreement would be terminated in 15 business days. “Gallatin County hereby advises all of you that the WMMHC has, on multiple occasions, breached its contractual obligations to the County, including but not limited to, the pro‐visions outlined below,” stated an accompanying Jan. 10 letter addressed to WMMHC Chairperson Levi Anderson. Gallatin County has been paying the WMMHC $29,417.50 monthly to provide a range of services. One is the provision of at least one bed for temporary, involuntary holds at the WMMHC's Hope House in Bozeman for people whose mental health crisis presents a danger to themselves or others. County officials say Hope House has been insufficiently operated at various times in recent years. Ending the more than 10‐year contract, Lambert said, “finally allows us to move forward with the provision of these very important crisis services which have only been sporadically met by Western for quite some time.” The WMMHC's Anderson attributes much of the difficulty at Hope House to low staffing levels exacerbated by the COVID‐19 pandemic — an issue he says is not unique to his organization. “The entire State of Montana is experiencing a drastic workforce shortage and behavioral health providers, WMMHC included, are struggling with workforce,” Anderson said in an email, adding that his organization has had to be “nimble” to modify services during the pandemic. “The Gallatin County Commission and County Attorney are alleging a breach of service based on these pandemic‐related operational challenges that have been experienced by many organizations, including the County themselves.” Lambert said the county does not expect to enter into a new contract with any other behavioral health care provider, which would require issuing a request for proposals to interested organizations, before the WMMHC's contract ends. The county's agreement with Bozeman Health, he said, will provide an emergency resource for people in crisis until the county can find new providers to work with long term.