Grand Marais, Minn.-based North Shore Health may have to close its nursing facility for older adults and end ambulance services due to a staffing shortage, radio station WTIP reported Aug. 22.
"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," Kimber Wraalstad, a hospital administrator, said in a report shared with the North Shore Health Hospital Board during a meeting Aug. 18.
The loss of ambulance services would mean longer travel times for residents in the area. The closest places services would then be provided areSilver Bay, the Gunflint Trail or Grand Portage.
Closing the nursing facility means limited availability for geriatric care in the area, as there are no assisted living facilities in the county.