Wiregrass Life Flight, which provides air ambulance service to the Wiregrass area, has shut down their operations in Dothan due to financial difficulties. As a result of this, a new partnership has formed between Haynes Life Flight and Pilchers Ambulance Service. The partners will be replacing Wiregrass Life Flight in providing service to the Wiregrass area.
Low Reimbursement Rates Led To Financial Issues
Statements made by Wiregrass Life Flight suggest that their business couldn’t continue being financially viable because of the low reimbursement rates from insurers in the region. They claim that Alabama Medicaid and Blue Cross Blue Shield provided low reimbursement rates for the company’s services.
According to Wiregrass Life Flight, these low reimbursement rates made it difficult to balance their operations. And they were no longer able to provide sufficient transport volume, rendering them non-viable.
New Partnership to Provide Air Ambulance Service to Wiregrass Area
Despite this discontinuation of service by Wiregrass Life Flight, a new partnership has formed to cater to the needs of residents in the Wiregrass area. Pilcer Ambulance Service and Haynes LifeFlight will be providing critical air ambulance service in the region.
This partnership will begin their operations from September 1 from a base in Dothan. Until then, the partnership will be providing their services from facilities based in Troy.
Haynes LifeFlight carries out their operations using an ASTAR 350 B3 helicopter. The helicopter is being operated by a team of pilots and critical care nurses as well as paramedics. It is equipped with advanced medical equipment, which includes advanced medication, ventilators, blood transfusion equipment, and advanced intubation equipment.
The previous provider, Wiregrass Life Flight had been established in 2015 and has been transporting patients from accident scenes and homes to hospitals. Their services were available to residents in southeast Alabama, north Florida, and Southwest Georgia.
