Staffing shortage at Grand Marais hospital could lead to closure of care center, end of ambulance service
A staffing shortage at North Shore Health could lead to a disruption in certain operations for the Grand Marais based healthcare facility, including the hospital’s ambulance service and the county’s only skilled-nursing facility for senior citizens.
“If (hiring) efforts are not successful, we may not be able to continue to provide services such as the ambulance and care center as we are very dependent on people to allow us to provide these needed services,” Hospital Administrator Kimber Wraalstad said in a report shared with the North Shore Health Hospital Board during a meeting Aug. 18.
To put this in context, if someone is involved in accident on Highway 61 in Lutsen and needs emergency services, the ambulance would need to travel from Silver Bay, the Gunflint Trail or Grand Portage if North Shore Health no longer has an ambulance service. Another stark example would be if a patient at North Shore Health needs to be transferred to Duluth, something that occurs on a fairly regular basis, there would not be an ambulance to transport them.
“As an organization that takes care of people, that has patients, we are dependent on the hands of other people,” Wraalstad said. “And if we’re not successful in being able to recruit, we can’t continue to provide services the way they currently exist. And we would need to look at what we do, how we offer it and what we might need to change.”
When it comes to the care center, if it closes, there would no longer be a skilled-nursing facility in Cook County. There is currently not an assisted living facility in the county at this time, meaning there would be extremely limited geriatric care if the care center closes, Wraalstad said during an interview with WTIP.
“The next closest facility would be the veterans home in Silver Bay, and then beyond that would be Two Harbors and Duluth for skilled nursing home services and assisted living,” she said.
WTIP’s Joe Friedrichs spoke with Wraalstad about the ongoing staffing shortage at North Shore Health and what this means for the community moving forward. Audio below. Click here to learn more about employment opportunities at North Shore Health.
Joe Friedrichs August 22, 2022
