What used to be the Voss Inn for 37 years on South Willson Avenue in Bozeman has been transformed into a licensed eating disorder center, thanks to one woman who knew this was something Montana needed.
“For the longest time, there hasn’t been a high level of care. There hasn’t been residential treatment specializing in eating disorders at all in the state of Montana. We saw that gap in care,” Voss House owner Jeni Gochin said.
The Eating Disorder Center of Montana can now deliver that care to patients through group sessions, therapy, planned meals, snacks, and other treatment methods, all at the Voss House.
“It’s terrific. People oftentimes don’t know that people with eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental health issue, so it’s very important work that we’re doing,” Voss House Nurse Practitioner Katelyn Luter said.
There is a day program offered for people who live locally, along with the opportunity for people from out of town to rent beds.
The Voss House was licensed in May of 2019 and opened its doors in early July to offer an intensive outpatient program and partial hospitalization care.
Many who are receiving help at the Voss House have felt pressure from society to look a certain way or be a certain size, and a big message that the team is trying to get across is that eating disorders actually don’t have a certain look to them.
“There can be people that suffer from anorexia that are in bigger bodies, there are people who have lots of binging behavior that are in really thin bodies. We look at weight as a part of the assessment piece, but really the day to day of what their routines with food, what their behaviors are like, is really so much more significant to us in terms of assessing what they need and what kind of interventions we need to put in place,” Dietitian Meghan Womack said.
The new space, along, with the Eating Disorder Center team, is giving light to these patients.
The Voss House does accept insurance and is currently working toward accepting Medicaid in the future.
