{
  "id": 1782035,
  "title": "Dartmouth Health says it needs to close telehealth services for emergency and intensive care",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/18/dartmouth-health-says-it-needs-to-close-telehealth-services-for-1782035",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-08-18T19:23:02.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Associated Press",
    "slug": "associated-press",
    "url": "https://apnews.com/article/dartmouth-health-telehealth-services-emergency-icu-47522a5c74946771aa2e14ee914226f4"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Dartmouth Health, a major healthcare provider in Vermont, has announced plans to discontinue its Tele-ICU and Tele-ED services due to unsustainable costs without external support. The decision will impact five Vermont hospitals and more in the region, as these services are provided by Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, the network's flagship academic medical center. Audra Burns, a spokesperson for the New Hampshire-based health network, stated that the costs of the two services, though not disclosed, are simply unsustainable at the current scale. Tele-ICU and Tele-ED are among nearly 20 remote healthcare services offered by Dartmouth Health. Both services aim to provide rural hospitals access to specialists at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. The remote intensive care unit services connect Dartmouth's intensive care physicians and critical care nurses with a patient's bedside team, enabling rural hospitals to care for critically ill patients and allowing clinicians to perform continuous monitoring. Dartmouth Health claims that the service reduces mortality rates, shortens ICU stays, and minimizes patient transfers from local settings. Northwestern Medical Center in St. Albans and Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington, both Dartmouth affiliates, utilize the network's Tele-ICU. Additionally, Dartmouth Hitchcock employs its own Tele-ICU service internally to prevent staff burnout and enhance patient safety and care quality. Three other New Hampshire hospitals also rely on Dartmouth Health's Tele-ICU. The remote emergency department services assist providers in delivering higher-level care and documentation while transporting emergency patients, transferring them to higher-acuity hospitals, or treating them in smaller hospital settings.",
  "summary": "Dartmouth Health expects to end its Tele-ICU and Tele-ED services, a move that would affect five Vermont hospitals and more across the region.…",
  "key_points": [
    "Dartmouth Health plans to close Tele-ICU and Tele-ED services.",
    "Decision due to unsustainable costs without external support.",
    "Services provided to five Vermont hospitals and more in the region."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}