CLARION, Pa. (EYT) – The Clarion Hospital held an open house on Wednesday afternoon to formally welcome Allegheny Health Network’s LifeFlight.

LifeFlight began operations at the hospital on May 1.

“There is a quote from an anonymous author, Choice, Chance Change: You must make the choice to take the chance, if you want anything to change,” said Clarion Hospital CEO Byron Quinton, (pictured above).  “We made the choice, took the chance, and made the change with Allegheny Health Network and LifeFlight as part of our commitment to providing quality care in our community.”

In addition to the LifeFlight-Clarion Hospital partnership, AHN Emergency Medicine Management has been providing physician staffing since the beginning of March for the Clarion Hospital Emergency Department, which treats approximately 18,000 patients annually.

Under the direction of Michael J. Hoh, D.O., FACOEP, the Emergency Department has nine general treatment rooms and two trauma rooms, and is supported by 24-hour coverage by the hospital’s lab, radiology, and surgical facilities.

AHN Emergency Medicine Management partners with US Acute Care Solutions, a national leader in emergency medicine with more than 3,000 clinicians, more than 160 sites in 21 states and nearly 6 million patients served annually.

“Placing a new LifeFlight medical helicopter base at Clarion means that the high quality care teams here will be providing emergency care and transportation to the critically ill and injured patients 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year,” Allegheny Health Network Chief Operating Officer Jim Benedict said. “Since May 1, we’ve done over 40 flights, so we’re working hard to serve this community with high quality medical care.”

In March, Allegheny Health Network began staffing Clarion Hospital with emergency room physicians.

“Clarion Hospital is committed to providing quality care to our patients by continually evaluating our internal process and making the necessary changes to improve outcomes and overall patient satisfaction,” said Byron Quinton, Clarion Hospital CEO.

“Allegheny Health Network looks forward to providing the Clarion community and region with exceptional care and appreciates the opportunity to collaborate with Clarion Hospital to ensure its patients have access to outstanding emergency medicine and air medical services.”

Life Flight has five locations in western Pennsylvania, according to Eric Schmidt, Manager, Outreach and Planning.

They include Canonsburg Hospital, Clarion Hospital, Indiana Regional Health Center, Butler Airport, and Rostraver Airport in Westmoreland County.

“Our dedicated, experienced team holds additional certification for prehospital care and have been trained to manage complex cases and to perform emergent procedures generally reserved for physicians,” said Jim Palafoutas, LifeFlight director of operations. “LifeFlight has enabled AHN to fulfill our mission by expediting the delivery of specialty care to patients in even the most remote communities.”

Life Flight will celebrate its 40th anniversary in September.

Schmidt said the air service began in 1978 at Allegheny General Hospital and was the first to be located east of the Mississippi River and the 10th in the country overall.

To date, LifeFlight has completed more than 70,000 missions.