Great Plains Health will launch a new medical air ambulance service in the region beginning Nov.1. The new service, owned and operated by Air Methods, is called Great Plains Health LifeNet.

“Our rapidly expanding medical specialty offerings at Great Plains Health and the strategic need for predictable medical air transport long term are really what prompted the entry of an additional helicopter service in our region,” said Dr. James Smith, medical director of Great Plains Health LifeNet and Great Plains Health emergency services.

The program will add an additional 16 full-time and four part-time employees to the area in professions that include pilots, nurses, paramedics and an aircraft mechanic. Great Plains Health will continue to utilize Midwest Medical Transport for ground medical transportation.

Great Plains Health’s partner, Air Methods, currently provides services for more than 300 bases of operation in 48 states throughout the nation.

“Air Methods is a company that aligns with our philosophy of patient and employee safety first,” said
Tadd Greenfield, Great Plains Health chief clinical officer. “It follows strict medical and air-transport protocols developed to ensure quality, safety, positive outcomes and best industry standards.”

The new aircraft, which will arrive in North Platte in Nov., is a Eurocopter (EC) 135 twin-engine helicopter. This is the same aircraft that is currently providing about 25 percent of the world’s total emergency medic service flights. “The aircraft features some of the most advanced emergency medical equipment,” said Dr. Smith.

Great Plains Health LifeNet medical air transport service will fly a radius of approximately 250 miles around North Platte. The aircraft will be housed at North Platte Regional Airport.

“We are pleased to bring the patients of our region the security and safety of an additional air ambulance service,” said Greenfield.

About Great  Plains Health

Based in North Platte, Nebraska, Great Plains Health is a fully accredited, 116-bed acute care regional medical center serving west central Nebraska, northern Kansas and southern South Dakota. With 90 physicians representing nearly 30 medical specialties, the Great Plains Health system offers advanced healthcare including heart and vascular, cancer and orthopedic surgery services. Great Plains Health is a level III trauma center with all of its emergency room physicians board certified in emergency medicine. The system employs more than 940 employees and serves a geographic area spanning approximately 16,000 square miles.

Great Plains Health is the only hospital in Nebraska to receive an A rating for patient safety from the Leapfrog Group in the fall 2013 surveys. The hospital is accredited by the Joint Commission and is home to an American College of Surgeons’ accredited cancer center and level II bariatric surgery program. For more information, visit gphealth.org.