GRAND MARAIS – A local family is left wondering why a county-owned van purchased nearly two years ago “to transport people aged 65 and older to and from medical appointments” is currently not available to support local residents. The situation involving the local family took place during the first week of the new year. Members of the family, who wished to keep their name out of the newspaper, were informed that Cook County Public Health and Human Services (PHHS) was the recipient of a van in 2024. The van was obtained by the county to “address a current transportation gap by providing a lift-equipped, mobility accessible vehicle for use by the Cook County In-Home Support Program and Care Partners of Cook County.”
The vehicle is a 2019 Dodge Grand Caravan. It is owned under the umbrella of something known as the “Boreal Partners Transit program,” which is a partnership between PHHS and Care Partners. The purchase of the van was made possible by a Live Well at Home grant from the Minnesota Department of Human Services in 2024. The state provided $39,000 for the van, according to state records obtained by the Northshore Journal. According to Cook County officials, the van is ADA compliant, has capacity to transport up to two individuals in wheelchairs, and will be utilized to transport people aged 65 and older to and from medical appointments.
Appointments. To date, the goals for usage of the van have been difficult to meet due to staffing woes at Cook County PHHS, according to county officials.
In a statement sent to the Northshore Journal Jan. 9, Cook County PHHS Director Grace Grinager said, “The implementation of the project, which includes creating a website to schedule capacity for the vehicle, was paused due to staffing transitions and vacancies over the past year.” Cook County officials said in August of 2024, when the news of the van’s acquisition was made public, that “transportation is an important element of access to health care since challenges with transportation can affect a person’s ability to initiate or follow through with medical appointments.”
Throughout the U.S., the county reported, people living in rural areas such as Cook County report both greater struggles with transportation and longer travel distances to accessing health care than the population in general. The realities of this unfolded for one local family following a winter snowstorm that left them scrambling to find a way to safely transport a family member from their home to a medical facility on the North Shore.
Grinager said the Boreal Partners Transit program has been available, in a limited capacity, to support PHHS clients and community members during the past 18 months. However, she said, due to staffing issues, the van has only been used once for official PHHS purposes since it was obtained.
“The project has not been fully implemented at this time and therefore the use has been limited,” Grinager said.
County officials announced in August 2024 that Boreal Partners Transit was seeking volunteers to drive the van. That being the case, as of Jan. 12 of this year, Grinager said the county is “not yet at the point of seeking volunteers” for the program. She added that the county “will be sure to keep the community updated as the project progresses.”
Grinager’s first day as the Cook County PHHS director was Jan. 5, though she’s worked as the county’s public health supervisor for the past seven years. Cook County Administrator Kristen Trebil-Halbersma has spoken publicly during the past five months about numerous staff vacancies within the department. Part of the staffing shortage was tied, at least in part, to a lengthy investigation that led to a major staff shakeup within the PHHS department. Rebounding from the situation will take time, county officials maintain, though positions continue to be filled, including Grinager being hired as the director of the department. County officials told The Northshore Journal this week that as vacant positions continue to be filled at PHHS, “The goal is to determine the appropriate implementation plan to utilize the Boreal Partners Transit collaboration.”
Despite the magnitude of the investigation into Cook County PHHS and its role in the number of vacancies within the department, staffing shortages are not unique to the county or other areas of public health in Cook County. In 2022, for example, the local hospital announced it was severely understaffed in some areas, including ambulance drivers. At the time, North Shore Health Hospital Administrator Kimber Wraalstad took to driving the ambulance at the hospital to keep services running without interruption.
“We all do what we need to do,” Wraalstad told this reporter in 2022 with regard to why she was driving the ambulance during a staffing shortage.
