The Royal Flying Physician Service (RFDS) and LifeFlight have opened their new $31.8 million aeromedical base in Mount Isa.
Mount Isa hosted greater than 2,300 RFDS flights and transported over 1,000 sufferers within the 2023/24 monetary 12 months, and the brand new facility replaces the plane hangar in use since 1964.
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“We all know the Mount Isa base is a key emergency retrieval hub, but it surely additionally has rising Major Well being Care wants with six distant places serviced weekly together with Bedourie within the south, Camooweal within the west and Gregory Downs within the north,” stated RFDS (Queensland Part) CEO Meredith Staib.
“These sufferers are additionally supplied with professional psychological well being help. The Mount Isa Major Well being Care group is important to the well being and wellbeing of individuals in a few of Queensland’s most remoted places, finishing up over 4500 consultations final 12 months.
“The RFDS (Queensland Part) continues to work carefully with our companions, Queensland Well being, Retrieval Providers Queensland, Queensland Ambulance Service and LifeFlight to ship the best care to the furthest nook.
“As an indication of the essential integration going down between medical providers, RFDS Medical doctors are actually educated to hold out their lifesaving work on LifeFlight plane so the area can profit from better response functionality.”
LifeFlight chair Jim Elder stated the brand new base would “guarantee our dedication to offer fairness of healthcare to all folks, regardless of the place they reside”. The organisation has offered aeromedical care to Queensland’s North West area for 18 years.
“The bigger and higher outfitted hangar and crew quarters can now accommodate the newest AW139 helicopter, good for a variety of advanced rescue missions on this a part of the world, whereas state-of-the-art engineering and upkeep amenities will present help onsite.
“It’s an historic day and LifeFlight acknowledges our companions RFDS, the LifeFlight North West Regional Advisory Committee for its tireless advocacy, Queensland Airports Restricted, Newlands Group for an unbelievable construct, and our State and Federal Authorities companions for backing the undertaking. It’s going to make a quantifiable distinction to the communities we serve.”
The undertaking was enabled via a $9.7 million contribution from the Albanese Authorities, alongside $10.9 million from the Queensland Authorities, $900,000 from Mount Isa Airport operator Queensland Airports Restricted, and different contributors.
Assistant Minister for Regional Growth, Senator Anthony Chisholm, stated the Federal Authorities is “proud to be honouring and increasing the legacy of the Royal Flying Physician Service and LifeFlight in regional and distant Queensland”.
“Our dedication to regional Australia is as robust as our dedication to healthcare, and the opening of this new aeromedical base is additional proof of that,” he stated.
“The outdated hangar had been in operation because the sixties, and it’s my hope that these new and improved amenities enable the RFDS to offer lifesaving help to regional Queenslanders for an additional six many years, no less than.”
A historic Nineteen Fifties de Havilland “Drover” plane was put in for show on the new base final month.
