Cody Regional Health & St Vincent in Billings Take to the Skies with New Flight Program
Written by Andrew-Rossi on October 31, 2022
Bighorn Basin residents are gaining a different kind of healthcare coverage, as Cody Regional Health and St. Vincent in Billings announce a new, entirely hospital-owned and operated air medical program.
Cody Regional Health and St. Vincent Healthcare – now part of Intermountain Healthcare – have partnered to launch a flight program that will serve the needs of the Greater Wyoming Basin Region with high-quality, cost-effective transport services.
“With the recent closures of E.M.S. (Emergency Medical Services) services and the high costs of air medical transport, we feel that the establishment of an air medical flight program located in the Bighorn Basin will provide a lower cost and a higher quality of care to patients in Northern Wyoming,” said Doug McMillan, Cody Regional Health C.E.O.
This service will be Wyoming’s only in-state, hospital-owned flight program.
Cody Regional Health operates the largest E.M.S. network in Northern Wyoming, while St. Vincent Healthcare has operated H.E.L.P. Flight, an air medical transport program, for over 40 years. Together, the two organizations aim to strengthen and sustain E.M.S. services in Northern Wyoming.
“We are always looking to further support the communities we serve by expanding access to care and finding solutions to help ease the way for our patients, so they can receive the medical treatment and services they need,” stated Jen Alderfer, President of St. Vincent Healthcare and Intermountain Healthcare’s Montana | Wyoming Market. “That’s why we are proud to partner with Cody Regional Health as we work together to establish a service that will better care for Northern Wyomingites.”
The flight program will launch with one-rotor wing aircraft and is expected to be operational in the Spring of 2023.
A Cody Regional Health air program could be enormously beneficial to the residents of the Bighorn Basin. The chopper may be available for evacuating injured persons during Park County Search and Rescue incidents.
Furthermore, Cody Regional Health patients who need intense medical treatment – for injuries or illnesses like COVID-19 – are often sent to St. Vincents via helicopter.
