February 20, 2020 at 5:07 p.m.
A new Method?
Lutheran won’t renew contract with Air Methods, hopes to have new deal in place before expiration
A new Method?
Emergency medical helicopter service is set to change in the coming months.
Lutheran Hospital, which has one of its Lutheran Air medical helicopter’s stationed at Portland Municipal Airport, has chosen not to renew its contract with service provider Air Methods, Portland Mayor John Boggs told Portland Board of Aviation on Wednesday.
It hopes to have a new contract for such service prior to the April expiration of the current contract with Air Methods.
Air Methods, a private Colorado-based company that contracts for emergency medical helicopter services, currently rents living quarters and office space from the airport so it can keep a staff there around the clock to conduct air lifts when needed. Boggs told the aviation board that it is possible Lutheran Hospital, rather than the medical helicopter service, will seek to rent that space directly from the airport.
Lutheran Air, with Air Methods as the service provider, has had a medical helicopter stationed at the Portland airport since October 2015. The service has been in existence since 2004 and also has a helicopter based in Wabash. The helicopters cover a 150-mile radius from each base.
The helicopter stationed at the airport in Portland can reach anywhere in Jay County in less than eight minutes. It was previously stationed in Fort Wayne, a 15- to 30-minute flight to Jay County depending on wind and other conditions.
Lutheran Air’s original contract with Portland’s aviation board called for a three-year lease with two automatic one-year renewals.
Katie England of Butler, Fairman and Seufert, the airport’s civil engineering firm, told the board that surveying and definitive cost appraisal for grading and drainage of the planned runway extension is nearly complete, with bids expected to be awarded this summer.
Grading and drainage is phase one of a two-year plan to extend the 4,000-foot runway to 5,500 feet.
The runway extension was a point of emphasis at Boggs’ inaugural State of the City Address earlier Wednesday.
“The added capacity will mean additional visitors to our community and a positive impact on our economy,” Boggs said during the address.
In other business, board members Faron Parr, Mitch Sutton and Clyde Bray, absent John Lyons:
•Approved a $3,301.61 payment to Lowe’s Heating and Cooling for installing a furnace in one of the airport’s hangars.
•Heard from airport manager Hal Tavzel that more than $30,000 of fuel has been sold by the airport since the board’s last meeting.
•Paid $1,951.66 in claims.
Lutheran Hospital, which has one of its Lutheran Air medical helicopter’s stationed at Portland Municipal Airport, has chosen not to renew its contract with service provider Air Methods, Portland Mayor John Boggs told Portland Board of Aviation on Wednesday.
It hopes to have a new contract for such service prior to the April expiration of the current contract with Air Methods.
Air Methods, a private Colorado-based company that contracts for emergency medical helicopter services, currently rents living quarters and office space from the airport so it can keep a staff there around the clock to conduct air lifts when needed. Boggs told the aviation board that it is possible Lutheran Hospital, rather than the medical helicopter service, will seek to rent that space directly from the airport.
Lutheran Air, with Air Methods as the service provider, has had a medical helicopter stationed at the Portland airport since October 2015. The service has been in existence since 2004 and also has a helicopter based in Wabash. The helicopters cover a 150-mile radius from each base.
The helicopter stationed at the airport in Portland can reach anywhere in Jay County in less than eight minutes. It was previously stationed in Fort Wayne, a 15- to 30-minute flight to Jay County depending on wind and other conditions.
Lutheran Air’s original contract with Portland’s aviation board called for a three-year lease with two automatic one-year renewals.
Katie England of Butler, Fairman and Seufert, the airport’s civil engineering firm, told the board that surveying and definitive cost appraisal for grading and drainage of the planned runway extension is nearly complete, with bids expected to be awarded this summer.
Grading and drainage is phase one of a two-year plan to extend the 4,000-foot runway to 5,500 feet.
The runway extension was a point of emphasis at Boggs’ inaugural State of the City Address earlier Wednesday.
“The added capacity will mean additional visitors to our community and a positive impact on our economy,” Boggs said during the address.
In other business, board members Faron Parr, Mitch Sutton and Clyde Bray, absent John Lyons:
•Approved a $3,301.61 payment to Lowe’s Heating and Cooling for installing a furnace in one of the airport’s hangars.
•Heard from airport manager Hal Tavzel that more than $30,000 of fuel has been sold by the airport since the board’s last meeting.
•Paid $1,951.66 in claims.
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