Sep. 22—A move described as supporting patients' needs has Banner Health and its emergency medical air transport provider MedEvac relocating a helicopter to Sterling.
According to a press release from Banner, the air ambulance will be staged in Sterling full-time starting Oct. 1.
MedEvac, launched in 1982, expanded its northeast Colorado coverage with a third helicopter stationed at the Akron airport in 2013. That crew is moving to Sterling, where they will spend time at both at Sterling Municipal Airport and at Sterling Regional MedCenter, according to the release.
Hospital CEO Ned Resch said this move was triggered to ensure access to medical transportation. According to the release, Sterling no longer will have a paramedics crew stationed full-time at the hospital dedicated to transporting patients between hospitals.
The hospital has been providing intra-hospital transport services since 2019 under an agreement with Logan County. Prior to that, transports were done by Logan County Ambulance, which is operated through the Sterling Fire Department as part of an intergovernmental agreement between Logan County and the city of Sterling.
After arriving at SRM, patients who need a level of care or specialty service not provided in Sterling are transferred to the Front Range or Denver. Resch said the first option is to call an ambulance crew from surrounding communities to respond, as long as they are available and transport speed is not a top priority.
If no ground crews are available or if the patient's health requires a faster response and transport, the hospital will call for MedEvac transport. Resch pointed out that in some cases, the best and first option is to call for the helicopter because of the higher level of medical care the crew can provide and the reduced time it takes to transport the patient.
"Our priority remains ensuring our patients receive high quality care in a timely manner," Resch said. "When a patient needs a higher level of care or specialty service emergently, our responsibility is to get them transported in a timely and safe manner."
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