Erlanger Medical Center is getting a new operator for the aviation portion of the LifeForce helicopter program it has operated since 1988, while maintaining control of the medical part of the operation. The hospital is selling its three-unit fleet to Med-Trans for $12.1 million.
The name will remain LifeForce, and Erlanger will stay in charge of the care of patients in the air, Erlanger's Roger Forgey said.
He said LifeForce has 59 employees. Sixteen of those, including the pilots and those who maintain the helicopters, will switch to the Med-Trans payroll. The rest will stay with Erlanger.
Mr. Forgey said those moving to Med-Trans will not see a cut in pay.
He also said Med-Trans plans to install new helicopters here within a year.
LifeForce has stations at the main hospital on Third Street, at Sparta, Tn., and at Calhoun, Ga.
Med-Trans will earn its money solely from charges to patients flown on the helicopters.
Mr. Forgey said it is increasingly difficult to come up with capital costs for new helicopters. He said Erlanger is currently flying 1981 and 1989 models. He said replacing those would cost $20 million.
The new helicopters will be designed for one patient instead of two. However, it will still be possible to fly two patients in one of the new helicopters if necessary, though it will be more cramped.
Mr. Forgey said when Erlanger started LifeForce, there were 87 hospitals operating similar programs. He said there are now only six doing the complete program.
He said Erlanger had not been willing to move from the current setup until it found a partner who was willing to allow the hospital to keep medical control.
The resolution was passed by the Budget & Finance Committee to be considered for final approval by the full board at Thursday evening’s regular monthly meeting.