Dartmouth Health to End Tele-ICU and Tele-ED Services for Rural Hospitals
Dartmouth Health plans to discontinue its Tele-ICU and Tele-ED services, which provide remote critical care and emergency department support to rural hospitals. This decision impacts five hospitals in Vermont and others in the region, citing unsustainable costs without external funding.…
Fort Myers Naples, FL, August 18, 2026 — Dartmouth Health has announced plans to cease its Tele-ICU and Tele-ED services, impacting critical care and emergency department support for several rural hospitals in Vermont and the surrounding region. The healthcare provider cited unsustainable costs as the primary reason for the discontinuation, stating that the services are no longer financially viable without external funding.
These telehealth programs were established to extend specialist expertise to remote healthcare facilities, offering crucial support for intensive care units (ICUs) and emergency departments that may lack on-site specialists. The decision means that approximately five hospitals in Vermont, along with other facilities in the region, will lose this remote assistance.
Dartmouth Health, a significant healthcare provider for the state of Vermont, indicated that the financial model for these specialized telehealth services has become untenable at their current scale. The organization has not provided specific details regarding the timeline for the service discontinuation beyond the general announcement of the planned cessation.
The Tele-ICU and Tele-ED services were designed to enhance patient care in rural settings by connecting local clinicians with intensivists and emergency medicine specialists remotely. This allowed for real-time consultation, guidance, and support, particularly during critical moments or complex cases.
The financial challenges leading to this decision highlight a broader issue facing rural healthcare providers and the specialized services they rely on. The lack of external funding or a sustainable reimbursement model for such telehealth initiatives has been a persistent concern. Dartmouth Health has not specified if any measures are being taken to transition affected hospitals to alternative support systems or if negotiations for external funding were pursued.
Further details regarding the specific dates of service termination and the full extent of the impact on affiliated hospitals were not immediately available. The discontinuation represents a significant shift in how remote critical and emergency care support will be provided to these facilities.
Story summarized from the original created by AP on apnews.com, see more information here.
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