Grand Marais hospital rolls out virtual medical care services

North Shore Health now offers virtual medical care with doctors who are not present in the local hospital during an appointment.

As WTIP reported in April, Sawtooth Mountain Clinic announced its physicians would focus on primary care and move away from inpatient and observation services. Physicians at the clinic have traditionally provided care to patients at North Shore Health, in addition to seeing patients at the clinic.

However, according to an announcement this spring, due to “physician shortages,” doctors at the clinic would no longer provide certain services at the hospital.

In response to this news, North Shore Health partnered with Minnesota-based company Horizon Virtual. Under this approach, doctors who are not in the building will communicate with and treat a patient as though they are in the room at the hospital. It’s essentially the reverse role from telehealth, with the doctor being on the screen and the patient being in the room. During the COVID-19 pandemic, some basic medical appointments were done with the patient being at home and communicating with a local doctor who was at the clinic or hospital.

The new option at the Grand Marais hospital started July 1 and only impacts inpatient, swing bed and observation patients. Doctors remain present in the emergency room at the hospital.

To show patients what the experience of working with a doctor virtually is like, the team at North Shore Health put together this video. 

Joe Friedrichs July 26, 2023