Carroll College in Lewis and Clark County has moved a major step closer to launching a Physician Assistant (PA) program by naming Dr. Michelle Heinan (EdD, MS, PA‑C) as program director, effective November 1, 2025. The program team intends to submit for Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC‑PA) provisional accreditation in 2027 and to admit its first cohort of 34 students in 2028.

The appointment places an academically and clinically credentialed leader at the helm as the college prepares for the multi‑year process of curriculum development, faculty recruitment, and formal accreditation. Dr. Heinan’s credentials combine clinical practice as a certified PA with graduate training in education and science, aligning with the program’s dual priorities of clinical rigor and pedagogical quality.

Carroll’s timeline calls for an accreditation application in 2027, a necessary milestone in securing approval to train and graduate PAs. Once provisional accreditation is achieved, the college plans to enroll the inaugural class of 34 students in 2028. The program also is expanding clinical partnerships with local and statewide providers, explicitly including St. Peter’s Health, to secure clinical rotation sites and practical training opportunities for students.

For residents of Lewis and Clark County, a local PA program represents both a direct and indirect impact on healthcare access. Training clinicians close to home can strengthen the local healthcare workforce pipeline, increase the pool of midlevel providers available to clinics and hospitals, and create clinical rotation capacity that ties students to regional health systems. The stated partnership with St. Peter’s Health ties the new program directly to an established local healthcare provider, which may increase opportunities for clinical learning and recruitment into the county’s workforce.

Beyond clinical effects, the program has implications for the local economy and higher education landscape. A multi‑year program will require faculty, administrative staff, and campus resources, and its students will contribute to housing demand and local spending. The fixed cohort size—34 students—provides a quantifiable addition to training capacity that local planners and health systems can factor into workforce projections.

As Carroll advances toward accreditation and the first student intake, community stakeholders—including health systems, county officials, and prospective clinical partners—will have opportunities to engage on clinical placements, community health needs, and program outcomes. Transparent reporting on accreditation progress, clinical site availability, and measures of graduate placement will be important for residents assessing the program’s contribution to healthcare access in Lewis and Clark County and beyond.

Carroll’s announcement signals concrete momentum in expanding PA education in Montana, with a clear two‑step timeline toward provisional accreditation and enrollment. Local officials and health providers will watch the next two years as the college works to turn its planned program into an operational training pipeline for midlevel clinicians.