Oneida County Executive Anthony J. Picente Jr. announced the arrival of a new, air medical base operation by Mercy Flight Central at Griffiss International Airport which will begin this June.  The agreement calls for a temporary base of operation from June through Labor Day.  Mercy Flight Central will station one of its aircraft from 9:00am to 9:00pm, 7 days a week.

“As this County’s Chief Elected Official the public safety and public health of this County is my number one priority. Today marks another step towards giving our residents the best care in emergency situations.  We are pleased to welcome Mercy Flight Central to Oneida County.  This is an organization that provides critical care in emergency situations and there’s no one better at it in all of New York State.”

Mercy Flight Central provides critical care air medical services at accident scenes and responds to hospital requests for inter-facility transports and has transferred over 13,000 patients since its founding. Mercy Flight currently services nearly 4 million with current bases located in Canandaigua/Ontario County-Finger Lakes and Marcellus/Onondaga County/Central NY.

Jeff Bartkoski, Mercy Flight Central President said “Mercy Flight Central is looking forward to a strong service-oriented relationship with emergency medical service providers within Mohawk Valley region.  Our Mercy Flight Central Outreach will begin immediately reaching out within the four counties’ emergency management structure to not only prepare, but also align our service to the operational expectations of our partners.  It is certainly a pleasure to work with Oneida County staff, particularly Director of Emergency Services Kevin Revere as well as Airport Commissioner Russell Stark.”

MFC will occupy part of Building 100, located on Hangar Road, near the terminal building in the Griffiss Business and Technical Park. Both Oneida County and Mercy Flight Central are working toward a permanent facility at Griffiss by the end of 2016.

Picente went on to say “This is also another great step for our Airport.  We continue to invest here and the dividends continue to be paid off to our community in economic development opportunities, infrastructure improvements and public safety initiatives just like this.”