MERIDIAN, Idaho — A new hub for the Pacific Northwest and Intermountain West's most prominent air ambulance company just landed in the Treasure Valley.
On Wednesday, the expanding medical emergency air ambulance flight provider, Life Flight Network (LFN), celebrated the opening of its newest communications center, located in Meridian.
The company previously worked out of Saint Alphonsus Medical Center.
LFN provides air ambulatory services or 'life flights' for patients needing medical care, be it in the case of a medical emergency or a planned interfacility transport.
The membership-funded company is based in only four states: Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Montana, where air transport is especially crucial, given the region's vast terrain of remote and sometimes inaccessible land.
"We continually look throughout our communities to see where there is a need to put a helicopter or a fixed-wing base," said Rene Bonnett, LFN Senior Director of Patient Transport Logistics. "We have increased our base over the years, which means we need more communication specialists. So, we found this space in Meridian, and it was perfect. We got to design it ourselves. It allows for growth."
Whereas many medical air services typically operate as a branch within a larger medical healthcare system, Life Flight Network functions as its own entity, a non-profit owned by various hospital systems and public corporations.
Additionally, as standard medical expenses are the patient's responsibility, with either out-of-pocket costs or medical insurance coverage, LFN offers a membership program. Members pay nothing out-of-pocket if an emergency medical flight is needed, according to the company's website.
"This is about a year and a half long project for us to be able to complete this building in this space. We took a lot of consideration in from what the communication specialists were missing that what they requested so that they could do their jobs more efficiently. And incorporating that into that space was really incredible for us," Bonnett said. "So, we're very happy to be here."
The company primarily responds to "scene calls," where a medical emergency is actively occurring but can't be accessed via ground or roads, such as in backcountry skiing and white-water rafting incidents.
LFN also transports patients between facilities, as well as smaller community hospitals that lack an internal medical air transportation provider.
The company operates out of 29 bases and operates a combined total of 60 helicopters and airplanes.
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