HealthNet adds $5.3M chopper to its medical fleet
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Apr. 2--CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A new $5.3 million HealthNet helicopter equipped with XM weather radar, ergonomic medical seating, and ground- and collision-avoidance warning systems began its first day of service in the skies over Charleston on Thursday.
The EC-135 helicopter, made by American Eurocopter, is the newest addition to HealthNet's fleet of eight medical emergency aircraft. It is a more powerful and more technically advanced version of the 10-year-old helicopter that has been serving HealthNet's Charleston service area.
"We'll retrofit the helicopter this one replaces with the same avionics, and then station it in Beckley," where it will replace a leased aircraft, said HealthNet President and CEO George "Chip" Sovick.
In addition to state-of-the-art avionics designed to improve patient and crew safety, the new helicopter's twin turbine engines produce more power than the aircraft it replaces.
"That means we'll have better lifting capacity, letting us carry more or larger people, or more fuel or gear," said HealthNet flight medic Thomas Reed.
The new helicopter, like the model it replaces, accommodates flight by pilots using night-vision goggles. The new chopper, however, features cabin lighting and avionics compatible with night-vision goggle use.
HealthNet, a partnership created in 1986 between Charleston Area Medical Center, West Virginia University Hospitals and Cabell Huntington Hospital, maintains West Virginia bases in Charleston, Morgantown, Huntington, Buckhannon and Beckley, as well as in Portsmouth, Ohio, and Prestonsburg, Ky.
Five HealthNet helicopters are based in West Virginia, while one each is based in Kentucky and Ohio. The company's eighth chopper is used as a reserve.
HealthNet transports about 3,500 patients a year. In addition to carrying patients to HealthNet-affiliated hospitals, HealthNet aircraft fly patients to regional specialty hospitals in Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., Columbus, Ohio, and Lexington, Ky.
The company employs about 100 people, Sovick said.
Reach Rick Steelhammer at [email protected] or 304-348-5169.