St. Luke's Joins Forces With Life Link III

St. Luke's and Life Link III, a leader in air transport services, announced today that St. Luke's will join the Life Link III consortium of owners to provide emergency transport services. Luke's One, St. Luke's current helicopter transport service, will be disbanded to become part of this consortium.

John Strange, St. Luke's president and CEO, says, "We are partnering not only with an established and respected transport company, but with a company we have a history with, as Luke's One had its beginnings with Life Link." St. Luke's contracted the services of Life Link III before starting Luke's One services in 1995.

"The decision to join with Life Link III pretty much grew out of the current financial climate and our commitment to ensuring we provide the best service to patients with the resources we have," says Strange. "St. Luke's and Life Link III share a mutual goal of putting the patient first, so it helped in making this difficult decision. We are so grateful to have had the opportunity to provide our Luke's One helicopter service these past 13 years and appreciate the dedication, expertise and outstanding care the Luke's One staff has always provided."

Luke's One aviation vendor, Air Methods, is used by both services, so operations will be seamless. St. Luke's will work collaboratively with Air Methods, Gold Cross and Life Link III to ensure a smooth transition. Luke's One staff will be offered the opportunity to continue with Life Link, as well as to work within St. Luke's.

Life Link III President and CEO Carter McComb states that St. Luke's addition to the consortium will serve patients in the region well by having air transport services located in several areas.

Life Link III is a comprehensive transportation system providing transport for patients in Minnesota, Wisconsin and throughout the United States via helicopter, ground ambulance and airplane ambulance. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Life Link III has helicopter bases in St. Cloud, Hutchinson and Eden Prairie, Minnesota, and New Richmond and Rice Lake, Wisconsin. By strategically locating resources throughout the region, the time to reach patients is significantly decreased, and positive outcomes can be directly related to a shorter time to reach definitive care.