News

When should you go to the ER for the flu? With the 2024-2025 flu season being described as the “most intense” in 15 years, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have estimated there have been at least 24 million cases across the country. This has resulted in more than 310,000 hospitalizations and, tragically, 13,000 deaths. The widespread nature of this flu has caused many to seek care in their nearest emergency department, increasing the potential to overwhelm physicians and caregivers. In ...

At what point should a doctor evaluate headaches? Everyone gets headaches. They can range, perhaps starting as a dull pain before escalating to the squeezing, dizzying feeling, and start from a number of causes: a lack of/poor quality sleep, certain foods, alcohol consumption, stress, eye straining, dehydration/lack of food, among others. In many cases, a drugstore pain reliever or headache medicine will resolve the symptoms relatively quick. There does reach a point, though, that consistent headaches —...

McLaren Northern Michigan, part of statewide McLaren Health Care, has announced its plans to expand the community’s access to timely care with the opening of an urgent care center in Petoskey. Located within McLaren Northern Michigan MedCenter – South (1890 US-131 in Petoskey), the urgent care expansion is scheduled to open in March. “We are very excited to share our plans to launch an urgent can and increase our community’s access to timely care,” said Gar Atchison, McLaren Northern Michigan President ...

It’s Not Too Late to Get Vaccinated Across the winter months, emergency departments across Michigan have been treating patients arriving after experiencing the classic symptoms of upper respiratory infections—the seemingly ever-present cough, congestion, runny noses, though with the occasional fever. While these symptoms can be mild and be a sign of common cold, they can also be symptomatic of the season’s more serious conditions: influenza, COVID-19, and RSV (though any condition can only be confirmed ...

The McLaren Stroke Network, Grand Blanc-based McLaren Health Care’s integrated structure in which to provide comprehensive stroke care, has expanded to provide critical access Schoolcraft Memorial Hospital (SMH) with an enhanced level of potentially lifesaving care. Through an agreement between the health care providers, patients arriving at Schoolcraft Memorial Hospital’s Emergency Room suspected of having a stroke will be initially evaluated by a McLaren Stroke Network interventional neurologist in or...

Officials of The Ally Challenge presented by McLaren announced today that the seventh playing of the official PGA TOUR Champions event, which concluded August 25, 2024, at Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club, raised a total of $1,005,260.21 for charitable organizations in southeastern Michigan and beyond, surpassing the $1 million mark for the fifth time in the tournament’s brief history. Since its inception in 2018, The Ally Challenge presented by McLaren has donated nearly $8.4 million to support ch...

Winter conditions can make the occurrence of a stroke more probable. More than 800,000 people in the United States suffer a stroke every year, with the majority of them caused by a rouge blood clot disrupting blood flow in the brain. The American Heart Association, during a nationwide conference in front of an audience of physicians specializing in the treatment of strokes, presented the results of a study that concluded strokes are more common during the winter months. For some, colder weather can be a...

McLaren Health Care, the statewide health care provider with 15 hospital-based and freestanding emergency departments, has established the position of Chief Medical Director of Emergency Services with Crystal L. Arthur, MD, FACEP, joining the system to assume the newly created role. Through her leadership, Dr. Arthur will collaborate with emergency providers and leaders of McLaren’s emergency departments to advance the care and experience of patients, focusing initiatives to bolster and enhance patients...

Stress has become so prevalent in countless lives that the American Psychological Association classifies it as a public health concern , and it can take many forms: depression, anxiety, and exhaustion to list a few. Often spiking during the holiday season, everyday stressors can be borne out of work pressures, deadlines, financial struggles, among many others. And the effects sufferers feel can lead to very real symptoms — and the body reacts : heart rate increases, blood vessels narrow. Over time, thes...

Though rare in the U.S., stomach cancer makes up about 1.5% of all cancer diagnoses annually. The American Cancer Society estimates that over 26,800 people will be diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2024. Also known as gastric cancer, it’s a disease that is usually detected in patients in their upper 60s, affecting more men than women. Signs & Symptoms of Stomach Cancer Due to stomach cancer being rare in the U.S., there are no standard guidelines for routine screening for average-risk people, so it i...