St. Joseph’s Hospital Has Spirit-ed Transportation Service
health care, st. joseph's hospital,
Look, up in the sky … and also on the roads.
In the winter of 1993, the Ministry Health Care network launched a new program called Spirit Medical Transportation Services and based its operation at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Marshfield. Spirit, a ground and air medical transport service, has since added ground bases in the communities of Rhinelander, Weston and Woodruff.
Spirit’s mission is to provide a helicopter or ground ambulances to transport adult, pediatric, neonatal and high-risk obstetrical critical care patients to area medical centers that have been alerted about their arrival. The service area includes all of central and northern Wisconsin.
“On average, the Spirit helicopter flies more than 600 missions a year, while the ground transport teams average more than 2,800,” says Terri Richards, executive vice president of St. Joseph’s Hospital. “The crews are highly skilled teams who pay special attention to safety.”
One nurse and one paramedic make up the staff for the helicopter and each of the ground ambulances. Spirit crews transport patients to a variety of hospitals throughout the region, although high-risk newborns needing
specialized care and treatment are almost always transferred to St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital. The Marshfield facility has the highest-level neonatal intensive care unit in this part of Wisconsin.
“In each of our communities, we provide not only a service but fill a critical need,” says Monty Gallegos, regional director of Spirit Medical Transportation Services. “Today more than ever, many of our communities are strapped for resources, so we recognize that our presence fills many needs in a most compassionate manner.”
Gallegos points out that compassion is what all Spirit teams strive to provide.
“It’s about understanding the customer and always doing what it right,” he says. “The greatest strength of Spirit Medical Transportation Services is in its personnel.”
Story by Kevin Litwin
