Open house sheds light on Weyburn hospital's heliport project

The City of Weyburn hosted an open house Tuesday evening for the public to learn more about the proposed heliport that will be constructed alongside the new hospital on the north side of the city. The open house was an opportunity for residents to learn about the heliport, what its uses will be, and for residents who live near the airport, what the proposed flight paths for it will be. 

The plans were designed by a company called Ground Effect Aerodrome Consulting. They came into the project with a wealth of experience, having provided site assessments, preliminary designs, detailed designs, tendering, construction administration and certifications for new hospital heliports throughout the country, including in Estevan. They also worked on the rooftop heliport at the General Hospital in Regina, which is where STARS flights from Weyburn will primarily go. 

Ground Effect was represented by its president, Dave Brown, at the open house. He detailed what the flight paths, as proposed, will entail.

"Most of it's to the north," Brown explained. "We have a flight path arc to the north, which is where most of the air traffic is going to use, and there is a single flight path to the south that is over part of the town, but it's going to be used when we have winds in a specific direction, i.e. from the south."

Dave Brown (left) from Ground Effect Aerodrome Consulting is explaining to Youth Mayor Nikola Erasmus and Weyburn Mayor Marcel Roy, along with Reinhardt Eisenbrenner, the flight paths STARS Air Ambulance will take when using the heliport. (Photo by Steven Wilson)

As STARS will be the primary users of the heliport in Weyburn, transporting patients to Regina, they had a representative at the meeting as well. 

Greg Chorney is the aviation base manager in Regina, and he was on hand to answer questions as well. 

"These heliports are game-changers," Chorney told Discover Weyburn. "They allow us to rapidly move a patient from Weyburn to the Regina General. It just makes things a lot quicker."

Currently, when a patient is being moved from Weyburn to Regina, they need to be transported by ambulance to the Weyburn Airport, which is located in North Weyburn. Having the heliport at the hospital itself will eliminate the time needed for that part of the transfer.

"There's always that delay that occurs," Chorney pointed out. "Having this here will allow us to get them up to Regina for some tertiary care a lot quicker."

The Saskatchewan Health Authority was also on hand, represented by Ken Smith. He stated the addition of heliports at the hospital itself is something happening across the country and is starting to happen more and more in Regina. 

Smith shared his thoughts on having the accessibility and expertise of STARS handy when it comes to the patient transport process.

"Our clinical colleagues put it this way - you know an ambulance is okay, but if you need to go fast, and you need somewhere, the helicopter is a flying ICU, and so it's a lot better than an ambulance."

The City of Weyburn facilitated the open house to be able to allow residents to be part of the process. In order for Transport Canada to approve the heliport, a letter of non-opposition is required from Weyburn City Council. The motion for that letter is expected to be introduced at a later council meeting. 

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