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Butte heart doctor reopens practice

Dr. Hull plans to reopen his Butte practice under Great Falls Clinic
Butte heart doc reopens practice under Great Falls Clinic
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BUTTE — In June, MTN NEWS brought you the story about a heart specialist in Butte who was forced to close his doors at the beginning of July, leaving 3,000 patients without care options.
Now that doctor is back with some hope for the future and a new location.

"A year ago, at this time, I was carrying my oxygen tank in my golf cart, and I couldn’t play 18 holes of golf," says Mick Delaney.

Today, former Montana Griz football coach Mick Delaney, plays golf 5 days a week and walks 6 miles a day. He credits his health improvements to the care he received from Dr. Bill Hull, an interventional cardiologist, formerly with the Butte-based Providence Heart Institute. With just 30-days' notice, Delaney and other heart patients received word that the Institute would close in July.

"That was a lot of stress for a lot of people in Butte. My golf group has eight guys and five of us are patients of Dr. Hull," says Delaney.

In September, Dr. Hull plans to reopen his Butte practice under Great Falls Clinic, a medical group that was founded in 1917 in Montana and is now part of Surgery Partners Inc.

"It was so wonderful for the people from Great Falls to come down. They took our whole staff. They took me. So, in the words of The Blues Brothers: We’re gettin' the band back together," says Dr. Bill Hull.

Dr. Hull began practicing in Butte over a decade ago. He says he received offers from other places to continue practicing, but Great Falls Hospital and Clinic were the only group that offered to retain Dr. Hull's entire staff.

"To be able to keep him in this community taking care of the people that he has taken care of for more than a decade was so important to us," says Mark Robinson, the CEO of Great Falls Hospital and Clinic.

Dr. Hull will make referrals to Great Falls Hospital for specialty services like pulmonology, cardiovascular, and vascular surgeries. CEO Mark Robinson says the hospital has a dedicated living space for patients traveling for care.

"It has turned out beautifully and we’re looking forward to seeing our old patients cause our patients aren’t just patients. They’re our friends and they were left high and dry for a while and now we’re here to catch them," says Dr. Hull.