A founding member of Logan Health’s Breast Center is ensuring generations of future patients can continue to get cancer care there after a recent $1 million endowment.  

Dr. Jim Bonnet was driven to develop a breast cancer surgical group in the Flathead Valley after watching his sister Carol struggle to find local care when she was diagnosed in 2003. Bonnet was lifelong surgeon himself who played an integral role in the Flathead Valley, but after watching his sister have to travel long distances to go to oncology appointments and radiation in California, he started thinking about what it would take to create a dedicated breast center for the patients he served in Montana.  

“It turned into a very difficult life change for her, because not only did she now have breast cancer, but she had to go two hours down to UCLA in Los Angeles, and returned to see Anna from UCLA, another two hours, in order to have medical oncology and med services available,” Bonnet said.  

It was a different world back then, said Bonnet. There wasn’t a lot of innovation for breast cancer prior to the 1990s and early 2000s. That’s when technology began to explode for cancer treatments of all kinds, moving from rudimentary mammograms to MRI mammograms and implementing new drugs for breast cancer. Many hospitals and medical schools began looking at creating programs specifically for breast cancer.  

And in Northwest Montana, Bonnet was in talks with folks at what was then Kalispell Regional Medical Center and North Valley Hospital to create the region’s first dedicated breast cancer center.  

“I presented to them the concept of a permanent breast center, and all of the things that would be required to call it a breast center, including a fellowship trained breast surgeon, and there was a very strong support of that after that meeting,” Bonnet said.  

Fast forward nearly 20 years and the Breast Center at Logan Health has treated multitudes of breast cancer patients thanks to a dedicated team. Bonnet is continuing to honor his sister’s legacy by creating a $1 million endowment called Carol’s Fund, which will be used to support myriad services at the center.  

So far, the money has been used to purchase a new MRI coil, which Logan Health Foundation Director of Operations Michael Barth said has already made a difference for patients at Logan Health.   

"One of our physicians shared with me that a patient who had dense breast tissue — they were not able to see a cancer on the traditional mammogram but were able to catch that on the MRI,” Barth said. “So having those tools at our disposal will help ensure that when cancer is present, it's caught early, and that the appropriate decisions and treatment protocols can be developed, hopefully leading to a good outcome.” 

He said the foundation worked with Bonnet to set up a memorandum of understanding that will guide how the funds will be used going forward. The group overseeing it will include physicians as well as a former patient, among others, to make financial decisions. He said it was important to Bonnet that patients also had a voice in the process.  

Barth said they will invest the money and make a portion of the fund’s balance available to spend over time, which can be used in many ways — including purchasing equipment, on preventative care, and covering the cost of treatment and travel.  

"The gift is really to empower Dr. [Melissa] Kaptanian and her colleagues within the Breast Center to ensure that they have the resources available to diagnose and treat patients, that they have resources available to conduct outreach and education within the community, and to ensure that women are having every opportunity to have the screenings that they need to hopefully prevent occurrence of breast cancer," Barth said.  

Kaptanian is the breast surgeon at Logan Health in Kalispell. She described Bonnet as humble but said that the Flathead Valley “owes him a great deal,” adding that “Carol’s Fund is by no means the first gift he has given all of us.” 

"He was one of the founding members of the surgical community here in Kalispell.  All the surgeons who take care of patients who experience trauma, cancer, vascular injuries, you name it — we stand on his shoulders,” Kaptanian said. “The enduring commitment to ensure that women affected by breast cancer do not need to travel, should they wish to remain in the valley for their care, was his idea and only through the force of his will and the coalition of community members, survivors and other stakeholders that he brought together does this service exist.” 

Thinking back to his sister, Bonnet said Carol had a gentle kindness in her eyes and a warm smile. She was a quiet force of compassion, finding joy in the simplest moments and sharing that light with everyone around her. Carol died of breast cancer in 2003 at 59.  

Bonnet said it was always his plan to create a gift in honor of his sister. After a career dedicated to helping patients and expanding breast cancer treatment in Northwest Montana, he said he is happy to see the continued success of the Breast Center — all in honor of Carol.  

“This is something I wanted to do and I wanted to do it in my sister's name, because it was her experience that set me on fire. I decided that I was going to do everything I could to help organize a multidisciplinary clinic for the purpose of dealing with breast cancer,” he said.  

To learn more about Logan Health’s Breast Center, visit www.logan.org/location/logan-health-breast-center/. 

Reporter Taylor Inman can be reached at 406-758-4433 or by emailing tinman@dailyinterlake.com.