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UT Medical Center Partnership Focuses on Patient Care

Published: Friday, April 6, 2007

A new partnership between The University of Tennessee Medical Center and Med-Trans Corporation will benefit UT LIFESTAR patients by allowing the medical center to focus exclusively on the care of patients aboard flights of the aeromedical service, hospital officials announced.

“This partnership with Med-Trans will serve to enhance our ability to provide the essential transport and patient care services of LIFESTAR to the people of this region,” said Norman Majors, senior vice president and chief administrative officer at UT Medical Center. “Through the partnership, Med-Trans will take over the aviation components of the LIFESTAR program, allowing the medical center to focus exclusively on the patient care aspect of the service. We still will have the same pilots, flight nurses and paramedics on the aircraft, providing the same outstanding service people throughout the region are accustomed to with LIFESTAR.”

Fred Buttrell, president and chief executive officer of Med-Trans, said LIFESTAR has done an extraordinary job of building hospital relationships and servicing EMS systems and communities. “LIFESTAR is known as one of the premier flight programs in the air medical industry, and we intend on continuing that success under the alternative delivery model, which builds on the best capabilities of the hospital and aviation operator to deliver a top-quality service. Med-Trans has successfully partnered with leading healthcare providers under alternative delivery models since 1995, including through our Wings program with Mountain States Health Alliance, whose contiguous operations in Johnson City and Morristown, Tenn., and Jenkins, Ky., to LIFESTAR will serve as the basis for a strong working relationship and broadened geographic coverage for the residents of Eastern Tennessee, Southeastern Kentucky and Western Virginia and North Carolina.”

Med-Trans Corporation, based out of Dallas, currently operates helicopters for aeromedical services in Arizona, California, Colorado, Kentucky, North Dakota, South Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. According to Majors, the partnership with Med-Trans is expected to lead to improved capabilities and allow for the possibility of growth and expansion for the LIFESTAR service.

“We will be able to better serve our patients, because aligning with the broader base of aviation capabilities offered by Med-Trans will lead to reduced aircraft downtime,” Majors said. “Our relationship with Med-Trans allows us to enlist around the clock support of experts in the aviation field. We believe this partnership and its resulting expanded aviation capabilities will benefit our patients and staff and all the outstanding emergency services agencies we work with in all the communities served by LIFESTAR.”

LIFESTAR, the aeromedical transport service of UT Medical Center, has bases of operation located in Knox, Sevier, Hamblen and Monroe counties. LIFESTAR transports patients within a 150-mile radius of Knoxville.