Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First
The Air Link helicopter is pictured here in flight in the Scottsbluff Valley. Air Link provides transportation for medical emergencies in the Nebraska Panhandle. Flight insurance for the service was offered at the recent local health fair.
Kimball Health Services hosted their 14th Annual Health Fair at the KHS North Campus on Friday and Saturday this past week.
According to Kimball Health Services Public Relations Spokeperson, Kerry Ferguson, a total of 314 people participated in the two-day event, receiving reduced-cost blood screenings, blood pressure monitoring and body mass index evaluations.
"A big thank you to all who participated directly or indirectly with this past weekend's health fair," added KHS Community Health Nurse, Pennie Anderson. "It was a very successful fair, and we couldn't have done it without everyone's help. We heard time and again the appreciation of having these fairs, so it is a very important piece to this community."
Ferguson stated that in 2015 the staff met and helped two hundred, seventy-five community members for the blood draws, and believes that these numbers are "very solid numbers" although difficult to compare to prior years, given that the health fair was only achieved once a year.
"Conducting it twice a year and over two days each time has really helped cut down on waiting times," he added. "The north campus has proven to be a very good location for managing the flow of people."
New at the latest KHS Health Fair were the skin cancer screenings, the garage sale/bake sale to benefit the Andy Shaw Memorial Fund, and the AirMedCare display, which resulted in quite a few new memberships.
Michelle Beeny who works with Eagle Air Med of Scottsbluff, was present at last week's Kimball Health Fair to offer insurance coverage to individuals and families on medical flight transportation.
Dr. James Broomfield explained that while insurance may cover the care received at a larger, better equipped facility in cases of dire emergency, it will probably not cover a $30,000 helicopter transfer. For this reason, specific insurance coverage is prudent.
"Especially with trauma care and cardiac care in this country being so good," Broomfield added, "but the number of hospitals that can provide the care are limited, because good doctors go to the good hospitals, therefore, patients will need to be transported to those hospitals. For what it is worth, you got your heart fixed in one way, but broken in another. I push my patients that they need to have flight insurance."
Correction - It was inadvertently reported last week that Michelle Beeney works with EagleMed.
While the company EagleMed does exist, Beeney works with AirMedCare Network.
AirMedCare Network member will have no out-of-pocket cost for emergency flights on AirLink, EagleMed (both based out of Scottsbluff), or any of AirMedCare's 240 air medical providers across 32 states.
For information about the AirMedCare membership program, please contact Michelle Beeney at 308-641-7833 or visit the website, http://www.airmedcarenetwork.com.