VANCOUVER – Transport Canada has ordered three hospital helipads in the East Kootenay region to cease operations because of safety concerns, while the Fraser Health Authority has closed its helipad at Fraser Canyon Hospital in Hope rather than attempt to meet federal standards.
The developments raise questions over health authorities’ ability to provide patients with medevac flights in the event of an emergency.
“Obviously, I’d prefer that our hospitals are really kept up to standard completely,” Hope Mayor Laurie French said Monday. “I understand there are priorities. Patient safety is, of course, the biggest priority.”
Safety concerns at Fraser Canyon included the absence of lighting for night flights, a requirement for fencing, and an approach obstructed by trees not located on hospital property. Recent improvements to the helipad’s concrete surface did not prevent closure of the facility.
Fraser Health spokesman David Plug said the Hope Regional Airpark, located a five-minute drive away, had an approved helipad that could be used for emergency medical cases. It was already handling flights at night and in challenging weather conditions.
The closure is “not expected to have any impact on the transfer of patients,” he said.
Fraser Canyon has about six to eight patient transfers via helicopter per year, all outgoing, to larger centres such as Chilliwack, Abbotsford and Surrey, Plug said.
He added that Surrey Memorial Hospital, which uses a nearby school sports field as a helipad, will get a new rooftop helipad in 2013 or 2014 as part of a new critical care tower. Construction will begin next year.
The three helipads in the East Kootenays “deemed unsafe for helicopters to land” and ordered to close or suspended pending upgrades include Sparwood Health Care Centre, Elkford Health Care Center and Invermere and District Hospital.
Sparwood Mayor David Wilks said helicopter medevac cases must now fly into Elk Valley Regional Airport, about 15 kilometres away, or Fernie, almost 35 kilometres away. “Would we like a heliport here? Certainly,” said Wilks, noting the Interior Health Authority is still considering its next move. “They’ll have to make the decision. There’s nothing council can do on this one.”
Transport Canada spokeswoman Sara Hof said the federal government “recognizes the importance of helipads to hospitals and health centres, and the critical service they provide to the patients. However, we are responsible for ensuring the safety of persons on the ground as well as those in the air.”
She added several factors can influence a decision to close a hospital helipad for safety reasons, including “extensive growth of trees, development of buildings, roads, parking lot development and general infrastructure in the immediate surrounding area.”
There are 31 certified helipads at hospitals across B.C. for which Transport Canada says it conducts regular inspections.
As the owner and operator of these helipads, hospitals and health authorities “are responsible for ensuring that they remain in compliance with regulations, standards and rules” as outlined in the Canadian Aviation Regulations, Hof said.
The helipad at Cowichan District Hospital in Duncan was temporarily shut down last December for corrective action related to tree removal, fencing, lighting and painting.
The Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital in Trail opened a new helipad last month.
The helipad at Port Alberni’s West Coast General Hospital has been downgraded, allowing only multi-engine helicopters “with the capability to fly away or land safely with one engine inoperative.”
lpynn@vancouversun.com
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.