Aspirus Wausau Hospital has opened a new dual helipad.
The upgrade will help with faster access to advanced medical care for patients across north central Wisconsin.
The upgraded facility replaces the former single landing space and positions two landing pads adjacent to the emergency department for direct, rapid patient transfer.
The new helipad was developed in response to growing MedEvac demand.
Aspirus Wausau receives more than six hundred helicopter transports each year.
“We averaged typically on a flyable day about three to four helicopters landing at Aspirus Wausau Hospital. And with that we needed about 10% of the time, or about 50 to 60 times a year, we need to have a secondary landing zone for a second helicopter coming in, “ said Jason Keffeler, Aspirus System Director of MedEvac and Trauma.
“So a lot of times when you have a very big car accident on the interstate or an ATV accident where both patients need to come into the hospital, they can come in very quickly and in the most secure route possible. In conjunction with that, they're developing a instrument flight approach into there that will be ready for next summer,” said Chad Eckhard, the Base Aviation Manager and a helicopter pilot.
Eckhard says as volumes increase, it’s important they do not have to wait for for one aircraft to move before another can land.
