June 15, 2009

Penobscot Valley Hospital in Lincoln has broken ground on its new helipad, on the corner of Transalpine and Enfield Roads in Lincoln. The helipad, on the front corner of the hospital grounds, will accommodate the aircraft from LifeFlight of Maine. LifeFlight helped secure more than $140,000 in funding for the project. This amount includes over $18,000 from the U.S.DA., and the remaining funds came from a 2003 state transportation bond.

Additional renovations are being done at the hospital in conjunction with the helipad project, including new doorways to accommodate the stretches designed for transporting patients to the helicopters and rerouting a hallway for more direct access to the Emergency Department. This new hallway will change the flow of foot traffic in the building to better ensure patient safety and privacy and improve staff efficiency.

The cost of the entire project, including the helipad and ED improvements, is estimated at $398,000, and the hospital is seeking additional funding for the remaining amount. One grant has already been secured. Bangor Savings Bank is providing $5,000 toward the ED renovations.

“We had originally planned a multi-million dollar improvement project for 2009 at PVH, but with the current economy, we knew this was not possible,” says CEO Dave Shannon. “Instead, we’ve scaled down the project to include only the improvements we need to ensure better patient flow, safety, and privacy.” The project will also include two new beds in the ED, and the work is expected to be completed in about five weeks.

Shannon says the hospital is very fortunate to partner with LifeFLight of Maine and offer these services. He says it’s a great benefit to the community. “This will drastically cut down on the amount of time it takes to transport critically ill patients to Bangor and specialty hospitals,” says Shannon. “It will also allow Eastern Maine Medical Center’s neonatal team to respond quickly to PVH when an infant is in crisis.”

In 2008, LifeFlight of Maine transported patients from PVH seventeen times. At this point, PVH transports patients in crisis by ambulance to the town’s rural airport to meet up with the LifeFlight teams. LifeFlight of Maine estimates that access to the new helipad will cut an average of 29 minutes off transport time.

While construction continues these next few weeks, PVH is asking people to be patient about the temporary parking restrictions. All employees have been asked to park behind the garage and in the overflow parking lots across the street from the facility, and the hospital is keeping most of the spaces nearest to the building free for patients and visitors.