The North Shore-LIJ Health System introduced its new ambulatory helicopter service on Thursday, an initiative that officials said would provide for a quicker transport of patients to hospitals throughout the Downstate area.
During a press conference at North Shore University Hospital, officials said the helicopter would be equipped similarly to an intensive care unit and travel an average of 130 miles per hour, allowing travel from Southside Hospital in Bay Shore to the health system’s helipad atop the Manhasset medical center in less than 10 minutes.
“This helicopter could mean the difference between life and death for critically ill trauma patients,” said Michael Dowling, the health system’s president and chief executive officer. “This helicopter enables us to avoid congested highways and provide the fastest hospital-to-hospital transfers for our most vulnerable patients.”
The $7 million helicopter and $6.5 million helipad are part of the health system’s SkyHealth initiative, in partnership with the Yale New-Haven Health System in Connecticut.
SkyHealth, which took effect on Friday, will provide helicopter transport for patients of major trauma, heart attack, stroke and life-threatening brain injuries, officials said.
Up to 400 patients are expected to be transported using the SkyHealth program in the program’s first year, officials said.
Officials said construction to the helipad, located atop North Shore University Hospital, is expected to be completed in early December.
“Trauma care is based on the right patient, the right care and the right time,” said Dr. Matthew Bank, North Shore University Hospital’s trauma director. “Although this is a simple concept, the unexpected and time-dependent nature of trauma care make it a difficult goal to achieve.”
Added Dowling: “The ability to get someone here quicker and save lives, that’s why we’re here doing this.”
Hospitals throughout the North Shore-LIJ Health System, which stretches from Westchester to Suffolk counties, are equipped to accommodate helicopter landings, officials said.
Officials said the Nassau County Police Department, which has transported patients to hospitals by air since the 1930s, will also utilize the health system’s SkyHealth program.
“The upgrade will save lives, not just with the inter-hospital transport they’re talking about but also having this flight pad available,” said Acting Nassau County Police Commissioner Thomas Krumpter, who added the system would be used to bring patients from New York City to North Shore University Hospital.
SkyHealth’s announcement comes on the heels of the American College of Surgeons’ announcement of North Shore University Hospital as a Level I trauma center, the first hospital in the area to receive the designation.
