HealthNet Helicopter Hangar Ribbon Cutting and Dedication

MORGANTOWN -   The country roads that West Virginia is so famous for make it hard for emergency vehicles to get people the help they need. That's where HealthNet comes in. It helps thousands of West Virginians every year.

HealthNet has eight locations across West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky with nine aircraft.

The flight crew doesn't just have to take care of patients but also its equipment.

That's why the crew from Ruby Memorial Hospital was pleased to help unveil the new helicopter base.

"Previously we were in an open environment with the aircraft and now we have a hangar to hang our aircraft," said Ronald Dotson, a member of the Flight Crew. "It keeps it out of the weather environment and the mechanics can work on the aircraft inside the hangar space where as in previous they had to work outside in all kinds of weather to work on the aircraft. Just like having a car, you want to keep it in the garage."

Like having a $7 million car, that helps save the lives of people across the state.

Several people attended the ribbon cutting and unveiling of the new hangar.

"We have a new facility that is much more advanced than what we had on the campus at Ruby Memorial Hospital," Clinton Burley, the President and CEO of HealthNet Aeromedical Services Inc., said. "The ability to have the aircraft in a hangar for these type of efforts was limited there simply because of space on the hospital campus. This gives us more room to have a great hangar facility."

The new base is at Morgantown Commons behind the Morgantown Mall.

HealthNet has flown patients for decades and now transports up to four thousand people every year.

"Citizens of West Virginia have benefited obviously over the last 30 years. The people that come through our state have benefited from us being around and providing that care. We provide advanced life support care and we help these hospitals out, and they in turn help us out, as well as the EMS people. We all help each other out."

The new facility is less than an air mile away from the previous one. So, response times will not change.

Story and photo: http://www.wboy.com