New potential site for Ornge helipad in Bowmanville: ‘They have to be here’

It’s approaching the one-year mark since Ornge air ambulance stopped operating at the Bowmanville Hospital. That has led to a renewed push to find a solution to serve patients in the municipality.

Residents who live near the hospital say the down draft of the helicopters damaged property and scattered lawn furniture — concerns that, among others, led to the suspension of the Ornge service.

Doug Tullock, whose house backs on to the heliport, lives doors down from the hospital.

“Ornge air ambulance, when it came in, was very dangerous to your health and the safety of the people in this immediate vicinity. When it would land, the nose was supposed to face south so we wouldn’t get any exhaust fumes,” said Tullock.

“They would always end up turning the helicopter facing north.”

David Pearcy, who lives right across from the hospital, still remembers the helicopter rattling his windows.

“We kind of got used to it after a while, but the aborted landings are the ones that are really scary because they would fly right over the top of our roof,” he said.

Since Ornge was suspended, however, the alternative has not been ideal.

Ornge now uses a landing site that is over 20 kilometres away at the Oshawa Executive Airport.

“In the ideal world, we would always have Ornge landing right at the facility,” said Dr. Tony Stone, chief of staff at Lakeridge Health. “The fewer transfers you have between vehicles, the safer it is for patients. Patient risk starts to emerge when you do more transfers.”

It’s a feeling that’s shared by Clarington’s mayor.

“We want the helicopter to land nice and close, but we want it to land somewhere where it is safe,” said Mayor Adrian Foster.

Lakeridge Health says they’ve been working with its partners, including the municipality on a closer option. A location about four minutes south east of the hospital on Haines Street is one of them.

Between 2016 and September 2018, when Ornge suspended service at the hospital, 26 patients were transported by air ambulance. So far this year, it’s been less than five.

“They’re always critically ill patients and even if the numbers are fairly small and they typically are not that big, the impact on patient care and patient safety and patient outcome are significant,” said Stone.

While residents near the hospital don’t want the service to return where it was, they recognize the need for a local pad.

“It has to happen; they have to be here,” said Pearcy.

“We absolutely do want the air ambulance not to leave Bowmanville,” said Tullock.

A redevelopment project for the Bowmanville Hospital is now in the works. Lakeridge Health says the best solution would be having the landing pad on the roof of the new expansion. However, there aren’t any timelines currently in place for either project.