As of Monday, October 15th, Clarinda Regional Health Center (CRHC) along with Mercy Medical Center-Des Moines and Air Methods launched MercyOne-Clarinda, a medical helicopter program based at CRHC serving all of southwest Iowa, northwest Missouri, and southeast Nebraska. MercyOne manages the medical portion of the program and Air Methods operates the helicopter.

A ribbon cutting ceremony (click here to view ribbon cutting video), sponsored by the Clarinda Chamber of Commerce,  was held just prior to the official launch of the program.  In attendance were members of the public, the CRHC Board of Trustees, CRHC employees, and representatives from MercyOne and Air Methods.

Residents in a three-state area will now receive faster medical air service to facilities in Omaha, Lincoln, Des Moines and St. Joseph.  MercyOne-Clarinda will service a 15-county area surrounding Clarinda.  This includes the hospital communities of Atlantic, Corning, Creston, Mt. Ayr, Red Oak and Shenandoah in Iowa, Maryville and Fairfax in Missouri, and Nebraska City, NE.  MercyOne-Clarinda will also service on-scene calls in this area.

CRHC CEO Chris Stipe thinks the benefits of a regional air ambulance program are going to be noticeable for area residents.  “When minutes matter for cardiac events, brain injuries or other traumatic medical emergencies, we will all benefit from having a regionally-based air ambulance.  This means southwest Iowa and northwest Missouri residents can expect an even quicker medical transfer to an urban medical center when specialized care is needed.”

MercyOne Program Manager, Dennis Cochran, says Mercy – Des Moines is pleased to be a part of this partnership to better serve the region.  “This is our third flight program in the state of Iowa.  Our MercyOne air ambulance program has been very successful in terms of fast response times in other locations, so we’re excited to bring this level of service to southwest Iowa, northwest Missouri, and southeast Nebraska.  We’ve put together a highly professional flight crew of nurses and medics.  They can’t wait to get in the air to start helping patients.”

“This Clarinda-based service is a win-win for patients in the region,” states Air Method’s Field Operations Manager Lyle Butler.  “Clarinda is geographically located between Omaha, Des Moines, Lincoln and St. Joseph, so from a flight time scenario we felt there was an opportunity to serve this region better.  This regional service will dramatically decrease response time to local hospitals.”