Banner Health and its emergency medical air transport provider MedEvac will begin staging a helicopter in Sterling full time Oct. 1, 2022, relocating the crew from Akron, CO.

The move supports the need for a medical transportation of patients in the eastern plains of Colorado when ground transportation is not possible or not available. The helicopter and crews will spend time at both the airport and at Sterling Regional MedCenter.

Hospital CEO Ned Resch said this move was triggered to ensure access to medical transportation. Patients who need a level of care or specialty service not provided in Sterling are transferred to the Front Range or Denver. Resch said the first option is to call an ambulance crew from surrounding communities to respond, as long as they are available and transport speed is not a top priority. Sterling no longer will have a paramedics crew stationed full-time at the hospital dedicated to transporting patients between hospitals.

If no ground crews are available or if the patient’s health requires a faster response and transport, the hospital will call for MedEvac transport. He pointed out that in some cases, the best and first option is to call for the helicopter because of the higher level of medical care the crew can provide and the reduced time it takes to transport the patient.

“Our priority remains ensuring our patients receive high quality care in a timely manner,” Resch said. “When a patient needs a higher level of care or specialty service emergently, our responsibility is to get them transported in a timely and safe manner.”

Sterling Regional MedCenter has provided medical care to residents of northeastern Colorado and the surrounding area since 1938. The hospital offers a full range of health care services and a staff dedicated to providing our patients with excellent care. Sterling also is home to the David Walsh Cancer Center, which offers an unprecedented level of cancer care to the region. The hospital is part of Banner Health, a nonprofit hospital and health care system with 30 hospitals in six states. For more information, visit bannerhealth.com/sterling.