Carlsbad Medical Center & Native Air Celebrate 20 Years of Collaboration

11/12/2018

Carlsbad Medical Center and Native Air, a Division of Air Methods, celebrated 20 years of collaboration to provide lifesaving service to the community at a special event on October 24, 2018.

Carlsbad Medical Center’s Emergency Department cares for approximately 23,000 patients each year. As a Level III Trauma Center, CMC has the capability of caring for many of these traumas locally, but when a higher level of care is needed and time is of the essence, emergency air medical transport and treatment is often the only access to lifesaving emergency care – providing access to people who otherwise would not have been able to make it to a higher-level trauma center.

“Many rural communities around the country are faced with a number of barriers to lifesaving healthcare,” says Joaquin Silva, New Mexico Regional Clinical Manager for Air Methods. “In order for rural residents to have sufficient healthcare access, necessary and appropriate services must be available and obtainable in a timely manner. We are fortunate to be able to work collaboratively with Carlsbad Medical Center and local EMS to be able to provide these lifesaving services to the community here in Carlsbad and Eddy County.”

Native Air has been able to care for over 8,000 lives in the 20 years that they have been providing service to the Carlsbad area.

“With additional specialties that CMC has been able to add over the last few years, including interventional cardiology, we’re actually having some patients being transferred in to our facility rather than out to other hospitals,” says Carlsbad Medical Center CEO Cathy Hibbs. “Whether coming in or going out, we appreciate the vital role that Native Air plays in getting patients where they need to be to receive the best possible care.”

Mayor Dale Janway, Air Methods NM Regional Clinical Manager Joaquin Silva, CMC Chief Nursing Officer Sam Jones

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