Highlights | New partnership to expand care
- UW Medicine and MultiCare Health System announce air transport service agreement.
- Airlift Northwest is now the preferred air transport service for pediatric patients at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital.
- It is also the preferred air transport service for neonatal patients at Tacoma General Hospital.
- This partnership improves critical care for pediatric and neonatal patients.
UW Medicine and MultiCare Health System have signed an agreement making Airlift Northwest the preferred air transport service for pediatric patients needing care at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital and neonatal patients needing care at MultiCare Tacoma General Hospital.
As part of the agreement, Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital’s Pediatric Critical Care transport team and Tacoma General Hospital’s Neonatal Critical Care transport team will accompany Airlift Northwest staff to provide critical care on flights transporting pediatric and neonatal patients between hospitals across the state.
“It’s the latest development in decades of collaboration between our organizations,” says Jeff Richey, RN, interim executive director of Airlift Northwest. “Combining the expertise in neonatal clinical care and air medical transport means providing the most rapid, high quality care for those in greatest need. We are proud to work together to provide better outcomes for our pediatric patients in Western Washington and beyond.”
Benefiting Washington communities
The Mary Bridge Children’s and Tacoma General transport teams currently only provide ground transportation for pediatric and neonatal patients in Western Washington.
The partnership with Airlift Northwest will enhance Mary Bridge’s and Tacoma General’s ability to serve Washington. This means families in Eastern Washington communities such as Yakima, Tri-Cities and Spokane can quickly access the expertise at Mary Bridge and Tacoma General hospitals.
The partnership also greatly expands access to Tacoma General’s Level IV neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), the only one in southwest Washington.
UW Medicine and MultiCare Health System are working together as part of an alliance announced in 2017 to expand access to high-quality healthcare and allow the two organizations to engage in joint activities to further the mission of each organization.
