Beginning in May, Southwest Memorial Hospital will be home to a medical rescue helicopter, although whether it will be permanently stationed there is undecided.

In an effort to shorten emergency response times for Southwest’s rural patient base, hospital management agreed in December to allow Salt Lake City-based Classic Helicopters to station a rescue chopper on the hospital campus for a 6-month trial period. Classic has since agreed to the plan and is expected to deliver a Bell 206L-3 jet engine rescue craft in late April, with service beginning the first week of May, according to Dr. Michael Duehrssen, Southwest Memorial’s medical emergency director.

"Classic is outfitting and painting the helicopter to be delivered here, hopefully, on April 17," he said. "In the meantime they will be training some of our staff in helicopter rescue."

Classic’s Chief Pilot, Mario Nickl, confirmed yesterday from the company’s Page, Ariz., office that one of their helicopters will be stationed in Cortez. "We’re excited to be there and have already hired two pilots that will relocate to the area," he said. "We have always been warmly welcomed at Southwest Memorial and look forward to getting started."

Dr. Duehrssen, under the Southwest Lifeguard organization, has pursued the possibility of stationing a helicopter at Southwest Memorial for the past five years in order to provide the rural community with faster rescue capabilities. Currently that emergency service is provided by Air-Care One out of San Juan Medical Center in Farmington, or by a unit out of St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction.

That service has been excellent, said Duehrssen, but noted that if Classic can make a go of it here, then the increased emergency protection would be a benefit for the entire community.

"It would give us better access to services that we do not have now," he said.

According to the agreement, Classic will fully maintain and finance staffing for the medical rescue helicopter, hire pilots who will relocate here, and pay for a $1 million insurance policy. In exchange, SHS will provide free use of Southwest’s landing pad and equipment storage. The chopper will also be available for other private and county needs, such as for firefighting, back-country rescue, law enforcement and oil-and-gas field use for $750 per hour. Emergency medical needs would always be a priority, according to the agreement.

Southwest emergency personnel would switch to Classic Helicopter’s payroll and insurance during service calls using the fully-equipped medical helicopter. In December, the Southwest Health System board agreed to put aside no more than $34,000 to cover the increase in payroll costs when backup staff at the hospital is put on-call to cover shifts during a rescue mission. The amount also covers some training for employees in helicopter rescue techniques.

"This is a project that we are going to try," said John Greenemeier, vice-chair of SHS. "In our community survey there was a perception that this type of service was a real need. Whether that need actually exists or if it will be financially affordable for the Classic remains to be seen, and that is up to the company to decide."

Greenemeier emphasized that SHS would not be willing to offer financial support to the Classic other than the maximum amount of $34,000 per year slated to compensate hospital staffing when Southwest employees switch to Classic’s payroll.

"One of the reasons is that flight service is already available to us from Farmington and Grand Junction," he said. "So it is not like this is a service we have never had before. The organizations we use now have done a very good job."

Classic would rely on profits derived from Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, third party insurers and rental payments for agencies other than the hospital. The Salt Lake City-based company operates a fleet of medical rescue helicopters, with the nearest base in Page servicing patients in the Lake Powell area. Parts and mechanics for the Cortez operation will be brought up from the Page base.

The copters have a range of 280 nautical miles, can fly up to 20,000 feet and can be retrofitted in 15 minutes to accommodate alternative needs such as fire-fighting and law enforcement.