Expanding Primary Care Access in the Eastern Upper Peninsula

Timely access to primary care is important for staying healthy. Primary care providers are typically a patient’s first point of contact. They help prevent or treat illness and guide patients to other services like specialists, labs and hospitals. That’s why leaders at MyMichigan Medical Center Sault say they are working hard to improve local access to care.

“We knew some of our primary care providers were planning to retire soon, and we needed to recruit others to step into their shoes,” said Kevin Kalchik, president of MyMichigan Medical Center Sault. “Joining MyMichigan Health has helped us bring more providers to our region. Candidates are more aware of our opportunities and more interested in being part of a large, high-quality system affiliated with University of Michigan Health. As a result, we now have more than 80 providers serving our area. This includes 16 primary care providers, and I’m happy to share that three more are coming this year.”

“We’re blessed and grateful that one of our long-time family medicine physicians, Dr. Tetzlaff, chose to delay his retirement to continue caring for our patients while we focused on growing our team. Now that we have nearly tripled the number of employed primary care providers, Dr. Tetzlaff can retire knowing that his patients will be well cared for.”

Besides hiring more doctors, MyMichigan has made other improvements in primary care access.

“We changed our schedules to create more openings and get patients in sooner,” said Jesse Rye, senior manager, MyMichigan Physicians Group. “If someone doesn’t have a primary care provider yet, they can call MyMichigan Health Line to get started. Beginning June 2, established patients will have two ways to schedule appointments. They can call their provider’s office or use MyChart to self-schedule. Self-scheduling saves time on the phone and lets patients see openings so they can choose a time that works best for them.”

“Speaking of saving time on the phone, we recently revised our phone process to answer calls faster,” Rye said. “A call distribution system offers prompts to connect callers to the right person and makes it possible for a larger team to pick up calls. Now the typical phone wait is only a few minutes. During busier times patients can choose to stay on the line and talk to the next available person or leave a message for a call back. Patients can also send a secure message through MyChart, check test results, pay bills and more.”

Those who need help finding a primary care provider may call MyMichigan Access Center (989) 633-5252 or visit mymichigan.org/doctors.