Countless patients of Libby’s CARD Clinic are wondering when, or if, they will receive their medical records after the facility closed Monday, three weeks early.

The Center for Asbestos Related Disease (CARD) posted a message on its Facebook page at about 3:30 p.m. Monday that it was permanently closed as of August 10, 2026.

The beleaguered facility was set to close Aug. 31 after its federal grant funding was not renewed, which resulted in the upcoming closure. Because federal grant funding provided nearly all of CARD’s operating revenue, the clinic was in the process of closing and dissolving the organization.

About one hour following the announcement, Tanya Olsen, a CARD patient for many years, arrived at the clinic to get her medical records. She was unaware of the closure and social media message.

“I don’t spend much time on Facebook,” Olsen told The Western News. “I knew they were closing at the end of the month and I wanted to get my records.”

Olsen learned she had to call the clinic number at 406-293-9274 and leave a message.

Immediate attempts to reach the clinic’s Executive Director, Tracy McNew, by phone were unsuccessful.

The following statement was part of CARD’s Facebook Aug. 10 message.

“Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances beyond CARD’s control, including circumstances relating to grant funding, CARD is unable to remain open through August 31, 2026, as originally planned. Therefore, as of August 10, 2026, CARD is permanently closed.

We sincerely apologize for this unexpected change and for any inconvenience or uncertainty it may cause.”

The missive also said that due to the circumstances, CARD’s ability to process and respond to medical records requests is currently limited.

“CARD is actively consulting with the appropriate government agencies and legal counsel to determine the appropriate process for handling medical records requests during this transition,” the message said.

The clinic has been on shaky ground since it lost a Sept. 2024 appeal to a federal jury’s $6 million judgment in June 2023.

Railroad giant BNSF sued the clinic for fraud in 2019, claiming more than 1,000 fraudulent diagnoses. Jurors ruled the clinic made or presented false claims 337 times, including 91 violations after November 2015.

McNew previously said that most of the claims at issue in the trial concerned the submission of EHH forms to Medicare, which certified that patients had been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease and were eligible for coverage under an Affordable Care Act provision created to respond to Libby’s environmental health threat. 

According to CARD Executive Director Tracy McNew, prior to trial, Judge Dana Christensen made a legal ruling that any claim based only on an imaging read by an outside “B-reader” radiologist was invalid, making it likely that those certifications constituted a bulk of the 337 claims.

Following the discovery of widespread asbestos exposure in 1999 in Libby, the clinic opened in 2000 under the direction of St. John’s Lutheran Hospital, now known as Cabinet Peaks Medical Center. 

Hundreds of deaths and thousands of diagnoses followed.

The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) performed screenings in 2000 and 2001 and identified the prevalence of lung diseases.

CARD separated from the hospital in 2003 and moved to its own location in 2004. 

Democratic Sen. Max Baucus led the charge 20 years ago to get funds for people suffering from lung diseases due to asbestos exposure. In 2010, the federal Affordable Care Act provided millions of dollars for asbestos screening and surveillance as well as asbestos-related health-care services.

Since then, CARD has received millions in funding from the Centers for Disease Control that allowed it to operate and provide free screenings.

In August 2024, CARD received a new 5-year funding grant from the ATSDR, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CARD has received previous iterations of this grant, made possible through the Environmental Health Hazards provision of the Affordable Care Act, since 2011.

When CARD officials announced the clinic’s closing in June, McNew said a more specific explanation of why the grant wouldn’t continue.

A notice from ATSDR said it completed a review and determined it wouldn’t continue the grant.

“This decision reflects ATSDR's assessment of programmatic alignment, stewardship responsibilities, and the agency's current priorities regarding oversight and management of federal resources,” the notice said. “ATSDR considered whether additional corrective actions, enhanced monitoring or modifications to the work plan could address these concerns, but determined that those measures would not sufficiently resolve the underlying issues.”

The federal government recently began a more stringent review of grants due to the perceived amount of fraud that was occurring.

In an Executive Order by Pres. Donald Trump, titled “Improving Oversight of Federal Grantmaking” and dated Aug. 7, 2025, he explained the reasoning to improve the process of Federal grant making while ending offensive waste of tax dollars.

“Every tax dollar the Government spends should improve American lives or advance American interests,” Trump wrote. “This often does not happen. Even for projects receiving Federal funds that serve an ostensibly beneficial purpose, the Government has paid insufficient attention to their efficacy.”

For those who still need their medical records, they must call 406-293-9274 and leave a voicemail with their full name, date of birth, current mailing address and a good callback number.

Officials said requests and contact information will be documented. Medical records requests will be addressed as CARD receives further guidance and as circumstances allow.

The status of several lawsuits filed against the clinic, both at the federal and local levels, is not yet known.