UW Health is relocating a Med Flight helicopter and ambulance to a new site in Janesville.

The move targets improving care for adult, pediatric and neonatal critically ill and injured patients during air and ground transport from areas south and east of Madison, according to Dr. Andrew Cathers, medical director, UW Health Med Flight, and assistant professor of emergency medicine, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

“Having Med Flight teams out in the community will allow us to respond much faster in the southeast part of the region,” he said.

The new base, which will open for operation this winter, is located at the Southern Wisconsin Regional Airport in Janesville. It is the third regional base in the Med Flight landscape. The other Med Flight bases are in Mineral Point to serve the west and southwestern parts of the state and Portage, which serves the north, northeast and north central regions of Wisconsin.

A second pediatric and neonatal care team and ambulance will remain at University Hospital in Madison.

The decision to move to a regional base format has been based on where most transport request calls are coming from, but the regional sites were chosen to still allow immediate response within Dane County, Cathers said.

“Most of the need for our services was coming from outside Dane County, so it just made sense to place our teams and vehicles regionally,” he said. “We are excited about this new Med Flight coverage map, because in emergency situations it gives us a better chance to save a life when time is of the essence.”