As the Vineyard struggles with a lack of primary care physicians, Martha’s Vineyard Hospital is launching a new service it hopes can clear its extensive patient waiting list. 

The hospital announced Tuesday that it was starting Care Connect, a virtual primary care practice that people can use for one-time urgent care use or for long-term care. The 24/7 service will be staffed by 20 physicians, and hospital chief nurse and vice president of operations Claire Seguin saw it as the next big step in helping Islanders get doctors.

“We’re hoping that will bridge the gap we have right now,” she said. 

The hospital’s waiting list for a primary care physician stands at about 1,300 people, and in the past it has taken months, if not years, for people to be paired with a doctor. 

Recently published data from the hospital shows that Dukes County has about one primary care provider for every 1,740 people, a ratio worse than both the state, which stands at 970 people per provider, and the entire country, which is about 1,310 people per provider.

With the new service, people on the hospital’s waiting list are expected to receive an invitation to join the program, and the virtual care doctors will work collaboratively with workers at the hospital for anything that needs to be done in person. 

“It’s kind of modern and flexible and innovative,” Ms. Seguin said.

According to the hospital, the new strategy has been rolled out in other parts of parent company Massachusetts General Brigham’s system to alleviate staffing shortages.

The hospital has made attempts to add more primary care physicians at the Island hospital itself, but has struggled to attract people here due to the high cost of housing and dwindling pool of doctors across the country. 

Even with Island-based additions in recent years, including three recently hired primary care physicians, retirements at the hospital have resulted in no positive gains, according to Ms. Seguin.

“It’s really hard to recruit in this space, [there’s] just not a lot of primary care providers in the pool,” she said. “So all the more reason to come up with innovative strategies like we are.” 

Artificial intelligence will be used to help with scheduling and navigation before a patient is connected to a physician, but all care, both in-person and virtual, would be delivered by clinicians, Ms. Seguin added. 

Patients could use the new program in a variety of ways, including until they can receive an on-Island doctor, long-term or just episodically for sick days or other one-time visits. 

The program is available only to adults, and is administered in English. Spanish language support is in the works, according to the hospital. 

The hospital’s newest addition joins other efforts to increase primary care on the Island. Vineyard Medical Care on State Road in Vineyard Haven was poised to close its practice earlier this year, but was purchased by new owner Jeff Levy this spring. 

Under the name Martha’s Vineyard Medical, the office was able to retain its 1,000 patients, clear its waiting list, and hopes to treat as many as 3,000 patients.