How a Website Refresh Improved Trust and Access at Granite County Medical Center

Location: Philipsburg, Montana
Industry: Rural Healthcare
Services Provided: Website Strategy, Design, Development, SEO, Content

The Challenge

Granite County Medical Center (GCMC) is a small but vital Critical Access Hospital (CAH) serving a rural and geographically isolated region of Montana. While the facility had been making real strides — adding new services, modernizing care and rebuilding trust under new leadership — its outdated website didn’t reflect these improvements.

The site was hard to navigate, poorly optimized for mobile and failed to deliver on GCMC’s promise of accessible, compassionate care. Patients struggled to find provider information or understand what services were available. The website was creating confusion at a time when clarity and connection were more important than ever.

GCMC wanted to reframe the community perception that they were an outdated facility with limited capabilities and show that they’re a highly modern facility with capabilities that far surpass what a typical CAH can provide. Upgrading the website would also help with the recruitment of full-time employees, which is often a struggle for rural healthcare facilities.

The Solution

Kinetic rebuilt the GCMC website from the ground up, turning it into a patient-first digital hub that reflects the organization’s renewed commitment to community care.

Our approach included:

• User-centered design: Built on WordPress, the new site is clean, mobile-friendly and easy to navigate, especially for older rural users. Patients can now find providers, view services and request appointments quickly and easily.
  
• Human-centered content: Messaging focuses on trust, compassion and expertise — written in everyday language that avoids medical jargon. Every word reflects GCMC’s approachable brand voice.
  
• Improved visibility: We implemented basic SEO and optimized GCMC’s Google Business Profile as well as implemented a review management system to improve search rankings and make it easier for patients to discover local care.
  
• Improved recruiting: The new website helps with recruitment by positioning GCMC as a desirable employer. Job seekers can now find clear career information, understand the culture and get inspired by the care model.
  
• Integrated communication: The new website supports a broader strategy that includes community mailers, social content and reputation-building campaigns. It became a cornerstone of GCMC’s public outreach.

The Impact

Since launching the new site, GCMC has seen:

• Improved patient access to services, with better visibility of same-day care and urgent services with web traffic increasing by 128% post-launch.
• Greater community trust, supported by modern design and transparent messaging.
• Increased local search presence, with 50% increase in impressions and 20% increase in clicks to the site from organic search and 30% increase in keyword rankings leading to more patient inquiries and awareness.
• Stronger foundation for ongoing marketing efforts like mailers, social campaigns and recruitment.

Why It Worked

For rural healthcare providers, credibility and clarity are everything. By combining brand strategy with intuitive design and real patient-focused content, we helped GCMC turn its website into a living expression of what makes the organization special: accessibility, compassion and a deep commitment to its community.

Want to see the difference a refreshed digital presence can make? Let’s talk.