Our Emergency Department includes a team of doctors, nurses, and physician assistants who provide outstanding care for community members and visitors alike. 

Sometimes our patients arrive with complex and life-threatening needs.  An automobile accident, for example, can result in multiple trauma victims or new parents might come to our hospital with an infant who is experiencing seizures or breathing problems. 

When such life-threatening needs arise, our emergency medicine providers use state-of-the-art, secure, real-time videoconferencing to consult with specialists at our partner tertiary care hospital, Eastern Maine Medical Center (EMMC), approximately 35 miles away in Bangor Maine.  The EMMC specialists, ranging from pediatric intensivists to neurosurgeons, can use high definition cameras to examine our Blue Hill patients.  They can use the same camera to zoom in on our monitoring equipment to check a patient’s vital signs.  Powerful computer systems allow EMMC specialists to access a patient’s medical record, which houses data such as laboratory results, diagnostic images, nursing documentation, and other information that is important for rapid and accurate diagnoses. 

If the patient requires emergency transport to Bangor, typically involving an ambulance or Lifeflight helicopter, our providers can follow the patient’s care at the tertiary hospital.  Research indicates that continuity of care saves lives. 

“We can provide the majority of our patients with exactly what they need here in Blue Hill,” says Sandy Smallidge, an experienced RN and manager of the hospital’s emergency department.  “The nature of an emergency department, however, means that we sometimes have to deal with unexpected and complex situations.  All of us appreciate being able to reach out to our EMMC colleagues when these situations arise.  Our patients benefit from the highly personalized care that is the hallmark of our hospital, as well as the deep expertise that EMMC is known for.”