(Two Harbors, MN) – Wilderness Health (WH) in partnership with member hospitals, recognized a major gap in care for patients needing mental healthcare in the Emergency Department. For example, at North Shore Health (NSH), in Grand Marais, some patients who needed specialized psychiatric care were waiting in the emergency room while the staff sought advanced care options. In Cook County, there are no inpatient facilities for mental health care available. Kimber Wraalstad, CEO of North Shore Health, believed that the hospital needs to be able to offer more than a safe place to stay when patients with mental health needs come in.

With the help of Northern Minnesota native Chandra White (APRN, CNP, PFMHNP) and Adaptive Telehealth, Wilderness Health is proud to announce the implementation of the Emergency Department TeleMental Health program at North Shore Health.

UMD students enrolled in Prof. Kim Dauner’s “Medical Sociology” class took up the task of researching the sociology of substance use disorders (SUDs) in rural Minnesota.  They shared their findings in a presentation to Wilderness Health, a collective of non-profit hospitals in Northeastern Minnesota and Northwest Wisconsin.

By: Chance Lasher

UMD student and public health major Minh Phan took up the task of digging through Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNAs) during his internship with Wilderness Health, a collective of non-profit hospitals in Northeastern Minnesota and Northwest Wisconsin.

Hospitals are required to complete a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) every three years. These documents are foundational in understanding the health needs of a community and pinpoint what needs should be prioritized by legislators and health leaders. Basically, CHNAs are a compass to a community’s health needs.

BY DAVID BEARD, PhD, ZOMI BLOOM, MBA, AND CHANCE LASHER

Student, Carina Hebl, developed her honors thesis to look into why residents in rural areas postpone mental health care. She found that many rural residents didn’t know what care was available or that they needed care.

Wilderness Health, a Northeastern Minnesota health care nonprofit is reaching out to at-risk populations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a state-provided dataset, Wilderness Health is identifying and contacting people on Medicaid who are potentially vulnerable to complications if they become sick with COVID-19. 

Wilderness Health was awarded a HRSA Rural Network Development grant to establish a telehealth program throughout NE MN.  The project begins July 2020 with a priority on developing tele-mental health with plans to expand into other specialty areas.