Air Methods Corporation (NASDAQ: AIRM), the global leader in emergency air medical transportation, commenced operations under the Bayflite preferred provider agreement as of Oct. 5. In May, Air Methods announced that it was entering into a preferred provider relationship with Bayfront Health and its Bayflite air medical transport program. The County licenses have transferred and the transition is complete.

“Air Methods is honored to be a long-time partner of Bayfront Health and the Bayflite program,” said Mike Allen, Air Methods’ president of domestic air medical services. “The program has strong roots in the community, caring for critically-ill and injured patients who need immediate, specialized care. Together, we devote ourselves-safely and prudently-to ensuring patients across 15 counties on the west coast of Florida have access to the highest quality, around-the-clock service.”

Under the new preferred provider arrangement, Air Methods provides program management, aviation, fuel, maintenance, aircraft, dispatch, billing and EMS licensure for the three Bayflite bases located in North Port (Sarasota County), Tampa (Hillsborough County) and Brooksville (Hernando County), Fla. Each base is staffed with 20 highly-trained Air Methods professionals, including flight nurses, flight paramedics, mechanics and pilots, in service 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In addition, the program will continue to operate as Bayflite.

Since 1986, Bayflite has flown more than 56,000 patients.

Air Methods Corporation (www.airmethods.com) is the global leader in air medical transportation. The Air Medical Services Division is the largest provider of air medical transport services in the United States. The United Rotorcraft Division specializes in the design and manufacture of aeromedical and aerospace technology. The Tourism Division is comprised of Sundance Helicopters, Inc. and Blue Hawaiian Helicopters, which provides helicopter tours and charter flights in the Las Vegas/Grand Canyon region and Hawaii, respectively. Air Methods’ fleet of owned, leased or maintained aircraft features over 450 helicopters and fixed wing aircraft.