CLEVELAND -- The University Hospitals MedEvac Helicopter Program will make Geauga County’s Middlefield Airport its new home of operation. The move is expected to reduce response time for patient transports, which occur primarily to the east of Cleveland. A second MedEvac helicopter is already stationed in Lorain County.

"The MedEvac helicopter base will now be more centrally located within our primary service area," says Wayne Fleck, University Hospitals MedEvac program manager. "Patients from Geauga, Portage, Lake and Ashtabula Counties will benefit by our proximity when they need us."

Richard J. Frenchie, president and chief executive officer at University Hospitals Health System Geauga Regional Hospital, agrees. "This move helps address significant access issues as identified in our community needs assessment," he says. "The newly expanded emergency department at Geauga Regional Hospital is also better equipped to respond to trauma cases requiring helicopter transport."

Geauga County officials were instrumental in lobbying for and executing the steps necessary for the helicopter’s move to Middlefield. Modest investments have been made to provide refueling capabilities for the aircraft and living accommodations for on-duty helicopter pilots and medical personnel.

"We feel this will be a major boost for the County Airport as we complete upgrades to accommodate the MedEvac Program and, eventually, more corporate jet traffic," says Geauga County Commissioner Craig Albert. "Citizens of Geauga County and the surrounding region are fortunate to have this program more readily available."

The University Hospitals MedEvac Program began in 1998 with one helicopter in downtown Cleveland, and has since expanded to two aircraft covering more than 13 counties in Northeast Ohio. The program’s service area extends from just west of Lorain County to the Pennsylvania border. MedEvac is headquartered at University Hospitals of Cleveland, and employs state-of-the-art helicopters and advanced clinical practitioners to provide critical care transport services in cooperation with EMS programs throughout Geauga, Lake, Ashtabula, Trumbull, Portage, Summit and Cuyahoga Counties.