Hartford HealthCare, Baystate Health and helicopter operator Air Methods have entered into a partnership that expands Life Star air ambulance services to western Massachusetts, the parties announced Wednesday.
The new Life Star helicopter is based at Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport in Westfield, Mass. Currently, there are no other air ambulance services based in western Massachusetts. This is Life Star’s third location, joining bases at MidState Medical Center in Meriden and Backus Hospital in Norwich.
Jeffrey Flaks, president and chief operating officer for Hartford HealthCare, said the partnership brings Air Methods and Life Star’s operational and clinical expertise western Massachusetts’ Baystate sole Level 1 trauma center.
“It will allow the western Massachusetts region to benefit from a needed service under an efficient delivery model,” Flaks said.
Dr. Gerald Beltran, chief of pre-hospital and disaster medicine at Baystate Medical Center, said: “Having a Life Star helicopter based close by in Westfield puts their highly-trained and talented crew closer to those patients in need of their life-saving services when transportation time is an issue in reaching us.”
In the partnership, Life Star will provide medical and quality oversight, the medical flight crew, and communications support through its existing infrastructure at Hartford Hospital; Air Methods will assist with aircraft management, flight operations, and facilities including a hangar space; and Baystate Medical Center’s board certified trauma surgeons and medical professionals will provide the critical care available for these critically-injured or ill patients.
