OSF HealthCare Unveils New OSF Life Flight Helipad
People living in Urbana and its surrounding communities now have a new life saving resource at OSF HealthCare Heart of Mary Medical Center.
OSF HealthCare celebrated the completion of a new OSF Life Flight helipad on the campus of OSF Heart of Mary in Urbana with a ribbon cutting and blessing on Tuesday.
The new helipad will better serve patients and get them quicker access to definitive care when minutes truly make a difference.
“We can provide more efficient, quicker access to our hospital and to our medical specialists,” remarked Jared Rogers, M.D., president, OSF HealthCare Heart of Mary Medical Center. “We have a premiere cardiovascular team here at our hospital, and this enables us to get patients in here in a very immediate fashion in order to address what needs to be done. In order to take them to the cath lab, or surgery, so that we can really help them address their needs and provide lifesaving, life sustaining, life extending care.”
The new 100’ x 100’ helipad is located on the east side of the hospital at 1400 W Park Street in Urbana.
OSF Life Flight has been serving Illinois since June 1984. OSF Life Flight has led the way in air ambulance service in the Midwest and continues to be one of the premier flight programs in the U.S., something OSF Aviation vice president, Kathy Devine, says will benefit the entire community.
“It provides access for patients to come into the community for the specialty services they have here, but equally important, for those that exceed the specialty services here for the tertiary care, it provides rapid access for patients to get to their destination and receive the care that they need to have great outcomes,” said Devine.
The 24-hour medical air ambulance logs more than 1,800 flights annually with its four American Eurocopter EC 145 helicopters, regarded as one of the top models available for air medical ambulance utilization. The OSF Life Flight team includes pilots, flight nurses, flight paramedics, flight communication specialists, mechanics, and other support personnel.
An OSF Life Flight may be requested by physicians, hospital personnel, emergency medical services, fire personnel, police, emergency management agencies and 911 dispatch centers.