Pittsburgh Medical School Leasing Luxury Jets for Foreign Travel

When it comes to flying in style, don't think Oprah has one up on University of Pittsburgh Medical College.

Doctors and administrators at the Oakland health giant are globetrotting to UPMC's international hospitals in the same type of plane owned by the talk-show queen.

The luxury jet -- a Bombardier Global Express -- retails for $30 million to $50 million and also is favored by Steven Spielberg, Bill Gates and Celine Dion.

Officials at nonprofit UPMC began leasing the aircraft last month.

It is the second plane leased by UPMC, where a spokesman said it is needed because it "can carry more people and avoid refueling."

The jets are being used to take staff to UPMC operations in four countries outside the United States -- a high-profile hospital in Italy, cancer centers in Ireland and England, and an emergency care center in Qatar.

Those programs pay for the jets, UPMC spokesman Frank Raczkiewicz wrote in an e-mail.

"Ultimately (the new jet) will replace the current plane unless increasing international demand requires two," Raczkiewicz wrote.

UPMC, which last year posted almost $6 billion in revenues, would not say how much it pays to rent the aircraft, but several Web sites advertise monthly leases for about $280,000.

That's the cost of about 325 roundtrip tickets at $860 each to Dublin or 186 roundtrip tickets at $1,500 each to Sicily.

Traveling to Qatar in the Middle East? The lease's cost is the equivalent of traveling there 155 times a month, based on a $1,800 roundtrip ticket on a commercial airline.

"It is certainly a top of the line aircraft," said Steve Element of Omni International Jet Trading, a Maryland jet broker.

The Canadian-made Bombardier Global Express is billed as a jet that can fly intercontinental destinations without refueling stops.

Some models can seat 19 passengers and feature personal DVD players, a separate conference area and plush leather seats that can be converted to beds.

UPMC's jet is leased through Banc of America Leasing & Capital, according to federal records.

Officials at three U.S. health organizations that operate international programs -- Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins International and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center -- said doctors and other employees fly on commercial aircraft.

"We don't have any jets, unfortunately. It would be cool if we did," said Scott Holcomb, a spokesman for Johns Hopkins International, which has projects in Singapore, Turkey, Panama, Portugal and other international locations.

Private jet firms say leased and chartered jets are popular among business executives who want to avoid the hassles of flying commercial.

Travelers can take off on relatively short notice, avoid long security lines and have room to conduct meetings or sleep, said Dan Stainer, director of marketing for Voyager Jet Center, a West Mifflin-based firm.

"You arrive at your destination refreshed," Stainer said. "You can go to a meeting, and we can have you back in time for dinner at home."

One industry observer was cautious in his assessment of UPMC's use of corporate jets.

Cliff Shannon, president of SMC Business Council, said he would question the use only if the physicians and workers are being transported to engage in activities that aren't related to patient care.

"If there are patients at the other end who need their timely attention, I don't know that I could criticize that," said Shannon, who has been vocal on issues that affect health-care costs and affordability of health insurance.

"I would think that as a nonprofit, it would be a good thing for UPMC to offer a blanket reassurance that the leasing of that kind of aircraft is taken only in the interest of patient care and that it's not cost that's ultimately unreimbursed and embedded in what we pay for health care at UPMC facilities."

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