Published: August 08, 2008 08:36 pm            

HealthNet leaving Mercer for Raleigh due to weather, fuel costs issues

BLUEFIELD — HealthNet Aeromedical Services, which was the first statewide hospital-based air medical service in the United States, is moving its Bluefield base to the Beckley area.

“We have signed a three-year agreement with options to extend to move our Bluefield base to the Raleigh County Memorial Airport in the Beckley area,” said George “Chip” Sovick III, president and CEO of HealthNet.

The company is moving its aircraft referred to as HealthNet V from the Mercer County Airport in Bluefield.

The news caught Mercer County officials by surprise Friday.

Charlie Peters, president of the Mercer County Airport Authority, said the authority had not been notified about the service’s plans to leave the airport.

“We’ll check it out and see what’s going on,” Peters said.

Sovick said local officials in Mercer and Raleigh counties were informed of the decision.

“We met and talked to some hospitals in the Beckley and Mercer County areas about our move and I think everyone understands why we are doing this,” Sovick said. “We are in the process of going to the Emergency Medical Service groups and other hospitals over the next few weeks to let them know what we are doing.”

Several issues, including weather issues and increased flight and fuel costs, factored into the decision to move HealthNet V, Sovick said.

“We have been looking at this move for the past eight months,” he said. “This move allows us to reduce costs and reduce flight time averages. The Raleigh County Memorial Airport is also at a higher elevation, which helps us with fog issues we were having in Bluefield.”

Sovick said HealthNet V serves all of southeast West Virginia and an average mission takes about 1.6 hours.

“We’ll be able to reduce that to 1.3 hours,” he said. “They may not sound like much, but when you look at the increased fuel and other costs, it made complete sense to make this move. We will continue to support southeast West Virginia, but we will be able to do a better job of completing our mission volume at a much lower cost.”

HealthNet’s hanger space at Raleigh County Memorial Airport is currently being renovated and is expected to open Sept. 1, according to Sovick.

“The helicopter’s operation will be 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Sovick added.

The aircraft is a jet-powered Eurocopter AS-350B2 A-Star made in France. The average cruise speed of the aircraft is nearly 150 miles per hour, Sovick said.

Flight nurses and flight paramedics must have a minimum of three years of experience in their specialty to be considered for a position with HealthNet, Sovick added.

“Even with that level of experience, the orientation program for new crew members exceeds 200 hours,” he said.

Raleigh County Memorial Airport Manager Tom Cochran says HealthNet is a welcome addition to the airport.

“We are very excited about HealthNet bringing its medical helicopter service to this airport,” he said. “When it comes to medical care, every minute counts and we think our airport will assist them in being able to transport even more patients that need their services.”

Sovick says about 65 percent of HealthNet’s flights are inter-hospital transfers.

“For the remaining flights our teams respond directly to the scene of an accident,” Sovick said.

In June, the air medical company placed a helicopter at Buckhannon-Upshur Regional Airport in Buckhannon. That new helicopter brought to six the total number of operational bases located throughout West Virginia and Ohio.

The fleet’s other aircraft are located in Morgantown, Charleston, Huntington and Bluefield within West Virginia and a base in Portsmouth, Ohio, operated in cooperation with MedFlight of Ohio.

HealthNet was established in 1986 and at the time was the nation’s only statewide emergency aeromedical service. HealthNet has completed more than 50,000 accident-free missions in its 20-plus years of operation.

HealthNet Aeromedical Services is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems.

“This reflects the attention to detail, safety and quality practiced by the flight team and the administrators,” Sovick said. “Nationally, less than 40 percent of air medical organizations achieve this status.”

Sovick says HealthNet is committed to providing high-quality care to patients in a compassionate manner.

“Safety of flight and exceptional patient care are HealthNet’s top priorities,” he said.

For additional background information on HealthNet Aeromedical Services, log on to its Web site at www.healthnetaeromedical.org.

— Daily Telegraph Reporter Greg Jordan contributed to this story

        

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