Hospital Wing Breaks Ground at Airport

McKENZIE (September 11) — Construction has begun at the Carroll County Airport for the air medical base service known as Hospital Wing. During the August 2024 meeting of the Carroll County Commission, a lease between Carroll County and Med-Trans Corporation was ratified with Med-Trans stating construction would begin immediately.

Less than a month later, the project is beginning to take shape. According to the lease agreement, Med-Trans will provide the county with a monthly $3,000 payment. Additionally, the medical group plans to construct a hanger that would include housing/living quarters for its employees on call and other renovations at no cost to the county.

In July 2023, the Med-Trans/Hospital Wing held a ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the opening of what was to be their home base at Baptist Memorial Hospital - Carroll County. At the time, the Baptist Hospital base would have served as a daytime-only base. Due to the lack of a hangar, each day, weather permitting, crews started the morning at the Selmer base and flew to Huntingdon.

A pilot, flight nurse and flight paramedic manned the Airbus EC130 helicopter stationed at the local hospital. Each aircraft is equipped with blood, plasma, IVs, ultrasound, and other medical equipment. At the end of the day, the helicopter along with its crew would then be flown back to Selmer.

With the construction of the hangar and base at the airport in McKenzie, this move will provide Carroll County with around-the-clock air ambulance service.

According to their mission statement, they build relationships with leading health systems, medical centers and EMS agencies spanning multiple geographic locations. Med-Trans Corporation offers a broad range of solutions to help its partners achieve successful patient outcomes. Med-Trans offers customized air ambulance programs through alternative delivery/shared resource models, community-based models or traditional hospital-based models.

The air ambulance is part of the emergency network supporting local hospitals and first responders. Flights to Memphis or Nashville can be just over 20 minutes compared to two hours via ground transportation. Subscriptions are available to lessen the cost of air transportation.

An exact timetable has not been released for the completion of the airbase.