WESTMORELAND COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) — Not long after they acquired five Pennsylvania hospitals, a health system will soon launch an air medical helicopter in the Keystone State.
WVU Health System recently acquired the five western Pennsylvania hospitals of the Independence Health System, including Westmoreland Hospital.
Now, they plan to base a $10.7 million air medical helicopter in Westmoreland County by the spring of 2027.
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The helicopter will be owned and operated by HealthNet Aeromedical Services, a company WVU Medicine partly owns.
“Having a WVU Medicine-affiliated aircraft based in Westmoreland County is critical, especially as we plan to expand programs at Westmoreland Hospital that will position it as a regional tertiary referral center that offers more advanced specialty and subspecialty care to the residents of Westmoreland County and nearby communities,” Albert L. Wright, Jr., president and CEO of the WVU Health System, said.
“We’re excited to work with WVU Medicine as it extends its brand and services farther into Southwestern Pennsylvania,” Clinton Burley, president and CEO of HealthNet Aeromedical Services, said. “Our commitment to the new communities we will serve and support is to provide exceptional service, and our 40-year history of excellence serves as a foundation for these efforts.”
The helicopter will be an Airbus H135, commonly used in air medical service and formerly known as the Eurocopter EC135.
It will be HealthNet’s first helicopter based in Pennsylvania. They have a base in Martinsburg, West Virginia in the eastern panhandle.
WVU Medicine has been rapidly expanding its footprint in Pennsylvania. Prior to the Independence Health acquisition, they operated only one hospital in the state: Uniontown Hospital in Fayette County.
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They are in the process of adding a Midstate hospital, Fulton County Medical Center, to the WVU Medicine banner.
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