WVU Medicine plans new medical helicopter base in Greensburg
The newly acquired West Virginia University Health System hospitals in the Pittsburgh area will soon have a new helicopter to transport those in need.
HealthNet Aeromedical Services, jointly owned by WVU Medicine, will soon base one of its helicopters in Greensburg, near Westmoreland Hospital.
When WVU Medicine took over the five Independence Health System hospitals in western Pennsylvania a few weeks ago, officials promised major investments in facilities, services and equipment.
On Monday, they officially announced that a new $10.7 million Airbus H135 helicopter is being built in Germany, and once completed next year, will be based in Greensburg to serve patients across the region.
Dr. Christopher Goode is the executive vice president and chief clinical integration officer at WVU Medicine and sits on the board of HealthNet Aeromedical Services. He says HealthNet has proudly served their system for 40 years.
"HealthNet is not new to southwestern Pennsylvania," said Goode. "We have been serving it out of our Morgantown base and out of our Moundsville base for several years now, specifically Greene County and Fayette County, where we do business at Uniontown Hospital. So, the expansion into new areas that follows the health system expansion is just part of the normal course of business."
Goode says the new base in Greensburg will be the system's 10th across its medical territory, and its helicopters will fly to wherever people need treatment, including Allegheny Health Network and UPMC hospitals.
STAT MedEvac, which is directed by a consortium of UPMC hospitals, currently operates a helicopter at Westmoreland Hospital's base. According to WVU, STAT will continue to operate in Greensburg until the new HealthNet helicopter is ready.
UPMC released the following statement about their helicopter services to KDKA-TV.
STAT MedEvac has a long history of exceptional service to the region, and we remain firmly committed to meeting community needs and supporting our EMS partners.
"We will work to maintain all of the relationships that we have with other air medical and ground providers in the region, and we don't anticipate that this should change the way the community is served and if anything, it just provides more options," said Goode.
For more information on this new helicopter, click here.
