Kalamazoo air ambulance service to discontinue operations in April 

Kalamazoo air ambulance service to discontinue operations in April 
Credit: Pixabay

Citing the dwindling number of transports it has provided over the last 15 years, West Michigan Air Care Inc. will cease operations this spring. 

The Kalamazoo-based cooperative program between Bronson Healthcare and Ascension Borgess Hospital will end flights April 20.  

“We, as well as Bronson Healthcare, intend to maintain our helipad at the hospital and will continue to transfer and receive patients via other helicopter services that serve the region to ensure that patient care is not disrupted,” Dean Kindler, regional president and CEO for Ascension Michigan’s Southwest Region wrote in a Feb. 16 memo to medical staff. “The decision is based on a recent comprehensive review that identified a continuing decline in flights, a 50% reduction over the last 15 years, as well as robust ambulance transportation in southwest Michigan. 

“We will be working with our physician partners and clinical teams during February to update our protocols for emergency response and inter-facility transfers.” 

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One of 11 air ambulances licensed to operate in Michigan, alongside Corewell Health’s Aero Med in Grand Rapids, West Michigan Air Care provided 378 total patient transports in 2022, the most recent year for which data were available from the state. That’s down from the 422 transports performed in 2021, yet higher than the 358 in 2017, the oldest state data available. 

Statewide, air ambulance transports declined 15.2% percent from 3,703 in 2017 to 3,138 in 2020, the first year of the pandemic, according to data from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Activity picked up in 2021 to 3,519 total transports, then declined again in 2022 to 3,444. 

Nearly 80% of the total transports in 2022 were between care facilities, and 312 were for advanced life support. 

The decision at West Michigan Air Care to discontinue service reflects a bigger question in health care in general focused on where air ambulances fit into the care continuum, said Brian Peters, CEO of the Michigan Health & Hospital Association. 

“Globally speaking, the is really an extension of this broader issue of what is the appropriate infrastructure that we need to serve the public going forward,” Peters said. 

Ascension Borgess and Bronson said they will “work with impacted associates” at West Michigan Air Care “to determine potential opportunities for transitioning to open positions at Ascension Borgess and Bronson Healthcare that match their training and interests.” 

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