In rural ME, dearth of doctors is a growing crisis

Jennifer Desmond stood in the middle of Vinalhaven island's Old Harbor Road on a January day. The cold rain and fierce wind chafed her face as she helped paramedics respond to a car accident. Desmond – a nurse practitioner and the island's unofficial comforter-in-chief – should have been home with her feet up sipping hot chocolate on that day in 2012. She was nine months pregnant, and it was her official due date. But Desmond needed to work because the island was short on doctors, a common occurrence during her eight years on the island.