The Presque Isle District Library set up private rooms where library patrons can participate in telehealth appointments.

Alcona Community Schools installed Wi-Fi on its buses so students could work on homework on the trip home from school.

Across Northeast Michigan, where state data shows about a third of homes and businesses lack access to the internet, various organizations have gotten creative to help those without internet access at home interact with the increasingly digital world.

“The internet is a really important tool for our patients and our system, but we do not require you to have it,” said Jenifer Balawender, a chief health informatics officer with MyMichigan Health, the Midland-based owner of the Alpena hospital. “Yes, there is absolutely a digital divide and things have gotten worse, but without access makes it less convenient for the patient. It does not bar them from any health care we provide.”

News Photo by Mike Gonzalez Amy Northrup, a behavioral health nurse practitioner at MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena, uses MyChart to video call Nurse Manager Cami Misiak in Northrup’s office on Feb. 29.

‘WE TRY TO HELP THEM OUT’

MyMichigan Health, with hospitals throughout the state, often schedules appointments for Northeast Michigan patients with specialists at distant facilities.

To save those patients from having to drive hours to their appointments, the hospital offers many of those appointments through videoconferencing, allowing the patient to chat with the doctor in faraway places right from Northeast Michigan.

Patients can do so from special virtual care clinics in Alpena.

“Say a doctor at our Midland facility is supposed to see an Alpena patient for a quick checkup for a heart problem,” Balawender said. “The patient would need to drive three hours for something that might only take 10 minutes, and the patient may not have a way to transport themselves. MyMichigan has virtual clinics, which are buildings with staff and Wi-Fi. The patient can meet digitally with the doctor they’re supposed to see through our amazing tools that can do physical exams and send the data to the distant doctor.”

News Photo by Temi Fadayomi Fifth-grade students in Hillman Elementary School teacher Jana Post’s class raise their hands on Feb. 20.

During the coronavirus pandemic, Alcona Health Center staff brought tablets to patients’ cars in the Health Center’s parking lot so patients could participate in telehealth examinations right from their cars. The Health Center also implemented hotspots — mobile Wi-Fi connections — in its parking lots during the pandemic, but Malinda Amlotte, community outreach and marketing manager of Alcona Health Center, said the procedure is rarely utilized now.

“Alcona Health Center does offer telehealth services on a regular basis for psychiatry and some other specialty services,” Amlotte said. “For these visits, our patients mostly come into our offices and are connected with the health care provider who is working remotely.”

Amber Alexander, library director of the Presque Isle District Library, said some of the older population in Presque Isle County can’t travel down to the hospital or other facilities in Alpena, so they often turn to the library.

Alexander said some patrons of the libraries around Presque Isle County have set up appointments in private rooms to participate in online health care checkups.

“We have a lot of people who come in with telehealth issues and ask staff to do it for them,” Alexander said. “We try to help them out with the appointment or registration, but they usually want us to do it for them.”

News Photo by Mike Gonzalez Amber Alexander, director of the Presque Isle District Library, uses a computer at the Rogers City library on March 21.

‘THE INTERNET IS NECESSARY’

“The internet is necessary in today’s education,” said Hillman High School Principal Kayla Nichols. “Students are being raised and educated in a technologically advanced society. It is important for us to provide them with the experience and tools necessary to be a successful citizen.”

With many of their students unable to connect to the Web at home, school districts have taken steps to make sure students get that experience and have an opportunity to complete their homework.

Many schools have set up dedicated class time so students can work on assignments and communicate with teachers at the school.

“So, if a student is using their time really wisely, they should never have homework,” Atlanta Community Schools K-12 Principal Tawny Hisscock said.

News Photo by Temi Fadayomi Hillman Community Schools Superintendent Pamela Rader speaks to fifth-grade students on Feb. 20.

Some other schools have boosted the range of their buildings’ Wi-Fi so it reaches the school parking lots, giving students a place to come after school hours and connect to the Web. Many schools also send students home with hotspots if they need it.

In Alcona Community Schools, “every bus has a Wi-Fi unit on it so the kids are able to do homework on the way home or to and from school, essentially,” Alcona Superintendent Dan O’Connor said.

“Ninety percent of our curriculum has an online component,” said Hisscock. “Access to the internet is important, but, knowing that not all students have that access, we are mindful about the amount of homework that is provided.”

ABOUT THIS SERIES

In 2020, at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, when much of the business of the world was forced online because in-person contact was deemed unsafe, The News uncovered the lackluster connectivity among homes and businesses in Northeast Michigan.

Four years later, The News wanted to see what — if anything — had changed.

After weeks of reporting, this is what they found:

* SATURDAY: Much of Northeast Michigan remains disconnected.

* MONDAY: A look at efforts to help Northeast Michigan connect.

* TODAY: A look at how area groups help Northeast Michiganders overcome a lack of internet access.