A UT Lifestar helicopter (N135UT), pictured in the forefront, will be servicing Roane County. (Photo by University of Tennessee Medical Center)
A new Lifestar air medical base in Rockwood will serve Roane County, the University of Tennessee Medical Center announced Friday.
UT Lifestar Aeromedical Services plans to open the base later in the summer at the Rockwood Municipal Airport.
Last month, Lifestar reached an agreement with Air Evac EMS Inc. to assume responsibility for medical operations of the Air Evac Lifeteam located in Etowah, Tennessee, a press release said. Lifestar also operates a facility in Sweetwater. The Rockwood base will be staffed by one of the teams from the Etowah/Sweetwater facilities. Services in the Etowah/Sweetwater area remain in operation as usual, the release said.
“Lifestar is pleased to have the opportunity to move to the Roane County region,” said Jeff Gregory, Lifestar director. “Being located in this area will allow us to provide faster aeromedical services to the citizens and visitors in this region.”
The western part of Oak Ridge is in Roane County.
Lifestar provides the clinical team for medical operations, and Med Trans Corporation provides pilots and mechanics for the aeromedical service.
Lifestar has five bases of operation throughout the region and is headquartered at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville. Serving an area within a 150-mile radius of Knoxville, Lifestar provides emergency helicopter transport to East Tennessee, Southeast Kentucky, Southwest Virginia, and Western North Carolina. Lifestar uses two EC-135 helicopters and two Bell 407 helicopters.
The UT Medical Center is a 581-bed, nonprofit academic medical center, and it serves as a referral center for Eastern Tennessee, Southeast Kentucky, and Western North Carolina. The medical center is the region’s only Level I Trauma Center and one of the largest employers in Knoxville. For more information about The University of Tennessee Medical Center, visit www.utmedicalcenter.org.
Med-Trans Corporation is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and it is a leading provider of air ambulance programs throughout the United States. For more information, visit www.med-trans.net.
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