Hospitals working on helipad solutions

KITCHENER — Kitchener’s hospitals are working to reopen their downtown helipad that was shut down two weeks ago when a construction crane was erected nearby.

It’s unlikely it will reopen before the end of summer as they work with aviation consultants to develop a possible new flight path for the helipad on Wellington Street South, located a block from King Street and between Grand River Hospital and St. Mary’s General Hospital.

Hospital officials met with Transport Canada last week to see what it would take to reopen the helipad, said Grand River spokesperson Mark Karjaluoto.

For now, helicopters will land at the Region of Waterloo International Airport in Breslau, and an ambulance will cover the rest of the distance to either hospital.

The downtown helipad gets 100 flights a year, bringing patients to Grand River and St. Mary’s from surrounding areas or taking them to a larger centre for more specialized care.

Once a new flight path is figured out, it will be submitted to Transport Canada for review and, hopefully, approval. Other possible changes needed, such as the lighting, will also be considered by the outside experts enlisted by the hospitals.

Karjaluoto said he expects the process will take a couple of months.

Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic said a few days after the closure that the future of the downtown helipad will need to be considered as land in that area is redeveloped. The crane was put up for a condominium being built on Victoria Street, slated to have two high towers.

The helipad’s long-term prospects are also on the radar of the hospitals.

“It’s definitely on our minds,” Karjaluoto said.

“The first priority is what we can do to have the helipad back up and running.”

While the regional airport works and the city is fortunate to have that as a backup, Karjaluoto said a helipad closer to the hospitals is “certainly seen as a desirable thing.”

Landing at the Breslau airport is estimated to add 15 to 20 minutes to a trip. Most patients are transported by ambulance because it’s more practical, the chief of staff for both hospitals said after the closure, and the impact of the change is minimal.

Critically injured patients most often are transported directly from the scene by helicopter to Toronto.