Aging Care Done Well: A Model Growing in Our Own Community

By Gerrit Seymour, DO, RiverStone Health

Most of us don't think much about aging until we have to. Maybe a parent starts needing more help. Maybe we notice our own body isn't quite what it was. Whatever brings it to mind, the question underneath is usually the same: how do I make sure the people I love, and eventually myself, are given aging informed care?

That's the work RiverStone Health is pushing our community to strive for.

Geriatrics: Care That Sees the Whole Person

You may have heard the word "geriatrics" and wondered what it actually means. Geriatrics is simply the branch of medicine focused on older adults. Not just treating illness, but understanding how aging changes the way the body works, how multiple conditions interact, and what a person needs to keep living life on their own terms. A geriatric-trained provider doesn't just ask "what's wrong?" They ask "what matters to you?"

Every provider in RiverStone's primary care clinics is trained in geriatrics. Care is built around your goals: staying active, keeping independence, managing medications safely. Not just a checklist of symptoms. RiverStone's clinics are recognized as an Age-Friendly Health System, a national designation that means older adults are at the center of every decision.

Care That Follows You

When things get more complicated, RiverStone's team-based approach brings together medical providers, mental health professionals, and support staff. Family doctors are credentialed at both Billings-area hospitals, so if you're hospitalized, your own doctor can keep caring for you, not a stranger. Home health services and hospice care support patients and families through every stage.

Training the Doctors of Tomorrow

Caring well for older adults is a skill that has to be taught. Every resident in RiverStone's MFMR training program completes geriatric rotations in their first and third years, something most medical schools don't require. The goal: every future provider who trains here understands aging not as a problem to manage, but as a stage of life that deserves real attention.

Building Empathy, Not Just Expertise

RiverStone's Eastern Montana Area Health Education Center (AHEC) goes further with the GERI Suit, a wearable device that lets medical students, residents, and community members physically experience what aging can feel like. In the past year, AHEC reached 144 participants across 15 presentations. Because understanding aging starts with feeling it.

A Model Worth Learning From

RiverStone deserves real credit for building something like this close to home. For providers and caregivers thinking about how to serve aging populations better, there's a lot here worth learning from. The more of us who get this right, the better things get for everyone. And it's encouraging to know that a model worth learning from is already growing right here in our county.

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