KENOVA, W.Va. — HealthNet cut the ribbon on the 5th of five new aircraft added to the West Virginia helicopter fleet. All five of the new aircraft have been put into service in the Mountain State in the past seven months. It means 50 percent of HealthNet’s fleet in West Virginia is less than seven months old.
“It is a milestone in our 40-year history,” said HealthNet CEO Clinton Burley.
Burley said there are very few places in the country where this kind of infrastructure investment can be seen.
“This is a first and it’s very rare a feat like this is achieved even on a national level,” said Burley.
The previous four helicopters are staged at Millwood, W.Va. in Jackson County, in Buckhannon, Moundsville, and Lewisburg.
“Each aircraft has a primary service area of approximately 75 square miles, but we operate our system on a fleet model where any aircraft can go anywhere at any time,” he said.
The aircraft will operate out of a helipad at Cabell-Huntington Hospital. Marshall Health President and CEO Scott Raynes said it’s an important part of the mission to provide healthcare to everyone in the region.
“We all know when somebody is flying into a hospital in a helicopter, that’s not a good day. The thousands of lives that have been saved over the 40 years of HealthNet is just a testament to the partnership we have,” said Raynes.
The partnership is a collaboration between Marshall Health Network, WVU Medicine and Vandalia Healthcare. HealthNet is a non-profit service operating out of all of those hospital facilities throughout West Virginia.
“Literally from Martinsburg to Huntington and from Wheeling to Lewisburg, HealthNet helicopters are available around the clock to make a difference in patient outcomes,” said Burley.
Each of the five new aircraft are identically rigged and equipped Airbus H-135 model helicopters.
“They are a state-of-the art platform that have really become the workhorse of our entire statewide fleet,” said Burley. “They’re very capable, have very long distance capabilities, and they fly fast. When you’re in a critical situation and you have an airborne ambulance with an expert medical crew moving at 150 miles an hour, that makes a difference and allows patients to go home.”
“We just got a lot better today with the ability to get to people and get them to our tertiary care centers,” said Raynes.