[Zbowling2]

Hello all! My wife and I are looking to relocate to the northern portion of the lower peninsula at the end of next summer. I am a registered nurse/paramedic and currently work for a flight program in Ohio. My wife is a licensed veterinary technician, and we love the outdoors. I would be okay with working in a rural emergency department but we would like to be within an hour to a bigger city (traverse et al). Anyone recommend a hospital that you’re familiar with or specific area to live? We are looking for country living with 5plus acres. Any information would be great. Thanks.

[craig11152]

Just for clarification there is no "et al" up there. Traverse City is it for "big cities".

[Giesela]

Sort of depends on where you think northern LP begins I guess. But generally speaking Traverse City and Petosky both have hospitals. I googled Alpena and it has a Medical Center assoc with UofM that says it has a 139 beds.

Traverse and Petosky - those are expensve area's, loaded with summer home people and tourists. Alpena is more of a "normal" town. Sunrise side Lake Huron is not as nice as the Lake Michigan side but plenty nice on its own.

You could go a little further south, there is plenty of outdoor in the Manistee Forest - Cadillac says it has 49 acute care beds and 65 physicans in its medical center and is and 1 and a half from Grand Rapids.

[craig11152]

Originally Posted by Giesela

Sort of depends on where you think northern LP begins I guess.

and coincidentally we have a thread discussing that very question
https://www.city-data.com/forum/michi...-michigan.html

[Jimmy252]

Grayling and Crawford County, northern Roscommon also worth looking into. Munson Grayling hospital is there (Formerly Grayling Mercy). That would also put you fairly close to Traverse...Just the other side of Kalkaska. This area would also be cheaper than Traverse and Petoskey.

[Zbowling2]

Thanks for the quick replies. My wife used to vacation on Mackinac Island with her family several years ago, and we took a camping trip about four years ago staying on lake Charlevoix and visited Petoskey, Boyne City, and Charlevoix. Sadly that is the extent of my familiarity with Michigan. I think we want to be no farther south than the Cadillac area and no farther west than the Grayling State Forest Area. I’ve done some basic google searches for the hospital networks, (Spectrum, McLaren, and Munson) but does anyone have any personal experience with which system is more reputable? Spectrum seems to be a little too far south but Munson has multiple locations and McLaren has one in Petoskey and Cheboygan. I realize Traverse City is about it for “bigger cities”, and it wouldn’t be the end of the world to be farther than an hour from there.

[Giesela]

Can't help you reputation. Don't know that there are enough CD'ers here who can. I suggest you try looking at reddit forums too. There is a Traverse City one.

Just FYI. When you say being an hour out, realize that and hour out can be....an hour out. Grocery stores can be very limited. Internet is a real problem.

[dave w]

Midland, rural areas just out of town.

[jaynarie]

Originally Posted by Zbowling2

Thanks for the quick replies. My wife used to vacation on Mackinac Island with her family several years ago, and we took a camping trip about four years ago staying on lake Charlevoix and visited Petoskey, Boyne City, and Charlevoix. Sadly that is the extent of my familiarity with Michigan. I think we want to be no farther south than the Cadillac area and no farther west than the Grayling State Forest Area. I’ve done some basic google searches for the hospital networks, (Spectrum, McLaren, and Munson) but does anyone have any personal experience with which system is more reputable? Spectrum seems to be a little too far south but Munson has multiple locations and McLaren has one in Petoskey and Cheboygan. I realize Traverse City is about it for “bigger cities”, and it wouldn’t be the end of the world to be farther than an hour from there.

You mean east? Because the way you have it, you are cutting out Traverse City and the only thing you are left with is Alpena. Tawas, if you count that. It is super small though.

I've never had to rely on emergency medical care on the western half of the northern lower peninsula, but the majority of people on the eastern side get sent down to Saginaw. That I know from personal experience.

[Zbowling2]

Originally Posted by jaynarie

You mean east? Because the way you have it, you are cutting out Traverse City and the only thing you are left with is Alpena. Tawas, if you count that. It is super small though.

I've never had to rely on emergency medical care on the western half of the northern lower peninsula, but the majority of people on the eastern side get sent down to Saginaw. That I know from personal experience.

Oops, yes I meant east thanks for catching my error! We have some time so I’m going to continue to do some research and try to get in touch with some people who actually work at some hospitals in the areas mentioned. Thanks for the help everyone.