Weather woes combined with new, “onerous” visibility requirements from the Federal Aviation Administration meant fewer flights for Erlanger’s air medical program in 2009, a loss that contributed to lower revenues last month, hospital officials said at Erlanger’s budget and finance committee meeting Monday.
“Our most acute patients are transported by aircraft, and if we have a substantial decrease in those acute patients, it has a ripple effect throughout the organization” financially, said Roger Forgey, senior vice president of operations, in a presentation to committee members on the air medical program, Life Force.
In response to an increase in air-medical accidents nationally, in January 2009 the FAA raised visibility minimums that must be met before an aircraft can lift off, such as requiring visibility of two miles instead of just one mile in nonmountainous terrain, Mr. Forgey said. For all air medical programs this significantly has increased the number of canceled flights compared to 2008, he said.
On top of that restriction, two of Life Force’s new helicopters, which are equipped with instruments that allow the operator to fly in low visibility, also have been subject to more stringent weather minimums for their first six months of use, under FAA rules. That restricted period ended last month, so transports with those instrument aircraft, which can fly when other aircraft are grounded, should start increasing soon, Mr. Forgey said.
LIFE FORCE SALEIn 2008 Erlanger sold its Life Force helicopters for $12.1 million to air-medical provider Med-Trans Inc., which is responsible for updating and maintaining the aircraft and can bill patients for the transport. Erlanger retained medical control and management of the program. Erlanger would have had to spend $20 million to replace its aging fleet of helicopters otherwise.