Lifeflight air ambulance to be taken over by STARS

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This article was published 11/09/2020 (2084 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The province’s Lifeflight air ambulance program will be absorbed by STARS, a private, not-for-profit operator, in the coming months.

As early as December, STARS (Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service) will assume expanded responsibility for adult air ambulance services within Manitoba, said the province’s health services agency, Shared Health.

Critical care medical air services have been provided over the past two years by a combination of Shared Health adult and child (neonatal/pediatric) transport teams, Lifeflight staff and STARS.

“Together, these teams have ensured ongoing and consistent availability of the Lifeflight service, even with the additional challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr. Brock Wright, provincial lead of health services.

“In the early months of the pandemic, gaps in Lifeflight physician coverage were covered by STARS, demonstrating our ability to build upon our existing partnership to further stabilize staffing and ensure Manitobans have access to this service for years to come,” he said in a news release.

The Lifeflight program, developed in 1985, provides inter-facility air ambulance transport for critically ill or injured Manitobans from areas outside a 200-kilometre radius of Winnipeg.

STARS has had a contract with the province to supply rapid and specialized emergency care and transportation for critically ill and injured patients in southern Manitoba since 2011. It also operates in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

STARS had previously partnered with Shared Health to ensure the availability of fixed-wing services in times of staff shortages.

Darlene Jackson, president of the Manitoba Nurses Union, which represents nurses affected by the move, said her organization is “deeply concerned” about the contracting out of the Lifeflight program.

“There are six nurses among the health care professionals affected. We feel this move proves that all along government only wanted to weaken and eventually outsource a service that’s of vital importance to rural Manitobans,” Jackson said in a statement.

“Lifeflight has a sterling reputation and excellent patient safety record; there is no reason to push this move in the midst of a global pandemic, when health care is already going through significant changes and adjustments,” she added. “While nurses value the services that STARS provides, no details have been provided about how STARS will be capable of managing this significant expansion in its services while also improving patient care.”

Doctors Manitoba, which represents the province’s physicians, also expressed concerns about the move.

In a statement, the organization said while it is encouraged to see a plan to continue air transportation for critically ill patients, the changes announced Thursday leave physicians with more questions than answers about how patients from northern and remote communities will be treated and transported.

“We look forward to hearing more details from Shared Health,” it said.

Patients are routinely accompanied by a physician on Lifeflight to monitor and treat them during transport.

“At this point, it is not clear whether patients will receive this same level of advanced medical care as the service is transferred to another provider. Aviation medicine requires highly skilled physicians able to provide emergency and critical care, trained to handle the unique challenges encountered when transporting patients by plane,” Doctors Manitoba said.

Shared Health said the transition will take place no sooner than Dec. 10. Its agreement with STARS is in place until March 2022.

Oversight for quality of care, patient safety and costs will be the responsibility of a joint operations committee made up of Shared Health and STARS staff.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca