- Cooney Home
- - History
Cooney Home History
“The Crown Jewel of Lewis and Clark County”
Lewis & Clark County’s commitment to provide quality health services began shortly after gold was discovered in Helena in 1864. In 1870 the county commissioners purchased property in the Helena Valley known as the Carpenter Ranch for the purpose of building a
“County Hospital and Poor Farm”
This facility served county residents until October 1935 when it was destroyed by a major earthquake that struck Helena. A new hospital was constructed at the original site in 1939. In 1961 the name of the facility was changed to “Cooney Convalescent Home” in honor or Dr. Sid Cooney, a long time and well respected Helena physician who served as the County Doctor from the early 1920’s until 1967.
In 1982 county voters overwhelmingly approved the construction of a new, modern 60-bed facility at its present site adjacent to St. Peter’s Hospital. An additional 15-bed were added in 1984.
In 1999 a state-of-the-art, 14-bed Alzheimer’s unit was added.
Today, as in the past, the Community has looked to the dedicated staff of the Cooney Home to provide the highest quality of health care to area residents who need special care outside of a hospital sitting.
The Cooney Home continues to be owned and administrated by Lewis & Clark County. It is operated as an “enterprise fund”, which means no taxpayer dollars are used for its operation.
Resident fees generated by private pay; private insurance and government Medicaid and Medicare payments are used to cover the expenses of the Home. Cooney Home currently employs approximately 110 employees.