V.P. says ‘needs would be best met’ with single Mosinee aircraft
For the Tomahawk Leader
WOODRUFF – Ascension Wisconsin Spirit Medical Transport (Spirit) announced Wednesday, July 8 that it would be making “adjustments to its air medical transport operations in northern Wisconsin.”
According to a release from Ascension Wisconsin, “key aspects” of the operational adjustments include “the discontinuation of service of the Spirit 2 Helicopter based at Howard Young Medical Center, part of Ascension, by the end of 2020 in Woodruff and the sunset of an operational agreement at the end of August for Spirit 3, a fixed wing aircraft based at Lakeland Airport/Noble F. Lee Memorial Field in Arbor Vitae.”
“There are many changing dynamics in the delivery of healthcare services in the region that created the need for these difficult decisions,” Stewart Watson, M.D., Vice President-Clinical, North Region, Ascension Wisconsin, stated in the release.
Watson said those dynamics include “the current landscape of medical transportation services available in central and northern Wisconsin, the ongoing realignment of healthcare facilities in the region and patient volumes. Spirit conducted an extensive review of its operations that focused on past, present and predicted patient volumes and transportation needs.”
“Our review concluded that our air medical transport needs would be best met with a single helicopter strategically placed at the Central Wisconsin Airport (CWA) at Mosinee,” he said.
Spirit will continue to maintain a critical care ground base and resources for transport out of Woodruff from Howard Young Medical Center, with additional Spirit ground bases located in Rhinelander, Weston and Stevens Point, the release said.
“The response time with Spirit 1 from CWA to the Northwoods is consistent with the average time to diagnose and stabilize most patients in the emergency room prior to being ready to transport,” stated Ted Ryan, Director, Ascension Wisconsin Spirit Medical Transport. “We will leverage the full resources of our dispatch center and the talents of our dedicated associates to continue to manage our patient transport needs safely and effectively.”
Ryan added that “every effort will be made to transition affected Spirit associates into current open positions within Ascension Wisconsin that fall within their qualifications.”
“We will continue to monitor volumes and response times to ensure appropriate ground and air resources when needed,” he said.
Spirit has provided critical care transport for patients and communities throughout central and northern Wisconsin for over 25 years. It currently serves central and northern Wisconsin and beyond with four ground bases and 12 ambulances located strategically in key communities and a fixed wing aircraft based out of the Central Wisconsin Airport at Mosinee.
Spirit transports approximately 4,800 patients annually via ground and air across the region and holds the medical transport industry’s most respected and highest level of accreditation from The Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS), according to the release. There are only 159 critical care transport services worldwide that have achieved CAMTS accreditation.
“This accreditation reflects Spirit’s commitment and focus on quality, patient care, and safety during medical transport,” the release stated.