Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Sacred Heart Selects Air Methods to Operate Air Ambulance Service
PENSACOLA, FL January 30, 2007 – Sacred Heart Health System has selected Air Methods Corporation to operate its AIRHeart air ambulance service serving Northwest Florida and parts of South Alabama.
Effective January 1, Air Methods, in coordination with Sacred Heart Health System, commenced operations in Northwest Florida under the AIRHeart name. Sacred Heart will continue to employ flight nurses and paramedics that serve on the AIRHeart flight crews. Air Methods will provide the helicopters, pilots, mechanics and all maintenance and billing services.
“We are pleased to bring in an outstanding company to operate our AIRHeart service,” said Ron Mosley, flight program director for AIRHeart. “Air Methods is the largest provider of air medical transport services for hospitals in the world.”
David Dolstein, Air Methods’ senior vice president of the LifeNet Division stated, “AIRHeart will use BO105, EC135 and EC130 helicopters. We are pleased to include the AIRHeart program with our Florida operations, and are excited that the transition includes plans to expand the geographic coverage of our air ambulance service in Northwest Florida and South Alabama.”
Air Methods Corporation, based in Denver, is one of the world's leading airborne healthcare companies, providing emergency transportation and medical services throughout the United States. The company’s LifeNet division is the largest community-based provider of air medical services. The Products Division specializes in the design and manufacture of aeromedical and aerospace technology. The Company's fleet of owned, leased or maintained aircraft features over 180 helicopters and fixed wing aircraft.
AIRHeart serves communities across Northwest Florida from two bases in Walton County and Marianna, Fla. In June of this year, the AIRHeart base in South Walton County will be relocated to the DeFuniak Springs Airport. AIRHeart flight manager Ron Mosley said most of AIRHeart’s flights in Walton County have been going to the central and northern parts of the county, so the move to DeFuniak Springs will bring the helicopter base closer to where it is needed most often.
Sacred Heart Health System is Northwest Florida’s most preferred hospital and the region’s leader in providing high quality, compassionate health care to children and adults. Key services at Sacred Heart’s 458-bed hospital in Pensacola include: a Regional Heart and Vascular Institute, Children’s and Women’s Hospital, a Level II Trauma Center, a Cancer Center affiliated with M.D. Anderson Physicians Network,, a home health agency, and a large network of primary care doctors and specialists that stretches from Foley, Alabama to Panama City Beach, Florida. In 2003, the Health System also added Sacred Heart Hospital on the Emerald Coast, a 50-bed community hospital in Walton County, east of Destin, Fla.
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