Saturday, July 17, 2004
Air ambulance to operate from Roanoke
Charlie Alpha will transport patients who are too sick to fly by commercial carrier.
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deirdre.conner@roanoke.com 981-3340
A special delivery on the tarmac of Roanoke Regional Airport had local health care and aviation officials beaming Friday afternoon.
The new arrival was a Beechjet 400A, the pride and joy of Charlie Alpha Air Ambulance. The jet is now certified and cleared to begin transporting patients who need to travel long distances but are too ill to go by conventional means.
A company in its infancy, Charlie Alpha is jointly owned by parent companies Carilion Patient Transportation Services and Cambata Aviation and will offer the first fixed-wing air ambulance service out of Roanoke.
"It was a segment of the market that we were missing," said Paul Davenport, director of CPTS, a division of Carilion Health System. The hospitals frequently got requests from area residents who got sick or injured while traveling and wanted to return home for continued medical treatment, but had to outsource the flights. "We were passing on five to 10 transports per month."
Charlie Alpha plans to run 10 flights a month, and hopes to increase that to 20. Six pilots have been retained to fly the jet, and another plane, a Hawker, is being outfitted to be added to the fleet. It should be ready in October, said Charlie Alpha's president, Albert Cambata.
His father, K.S. Cambata, is chairman of Millboro, Va.-based Cambata Aviation, which is involved internationally in the operation of aviation services and airports and employs 2,700 people.
The company was born of an accident that could have taken a tragic turn. Cambata's mother, Phebe Cambata, was severely injured in a 2003 car crash in Bath County and nearly lost her arm. Cambata was impressed with the Life-Guard 10 helicopter team that flew his mother to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, and when one of the crew asked if he had ever considered a medical transport unit, it planted the seed of an idea that eventually took root as Charlie Alpha Air Ambulance.
Phebe Cambata, who has since recovered, is honorary chairwoman of the board, and her son brightens at the mention of her.
"She just called from the Bahamas," Albert Cambata said. "She's so excited to see this come to fruition."
Charlie Alpha will likely not turn a profit in the first year, Cambata said. Most of the initial cash flow will go toward repaying the significant financial investment in the company - from replacing the leather seats with anti-microbial interiors to $200 flight suits and $15,000 in FAA-specified training for each pilot. Cambata estimated it cost $100,000 to outfit the plane, which was once a corporate jet.
"It has to be a profitable venture, but it's also designed to be a public service," said Pete Twisdale, director of operations.
Davenport said he expects fees to be set around $4,000 per flight plus $15 per mile, but varying medical costs can increase or decrease that price.
"We think the rate is competitive in the market of jet air transport," Davenport said.
A significant part of the business, organizers say, could be picking up local residents who get sick or injured on vacation, nationally or internationally, and want to come back to the area to be under the care of their local doctor. For most flights, they anticipate 24-hour advance notice, but Davenport said they could be ready in much less time depending on the patient's circumstances. The flight crew can be ready in an hour and a half, Twisdale said.
"A lot of people go to the Caribbean and South America. They get sick and don't want to stay there," Twisdale said. If patients have travelers' insurance, their ride may be paid. Otherwise, insurers don't often pay for fixed-wing air transport.
A slew of market research took place before the initial investment.
"The market is really there," Cambata said. Some 20 air ambulance companies in the U.S. "operate aircraft of this quality," he said.
"We think we can do it as good or better than our competition," Davenport said. Before, MedCenter Air in Charlotte and MedFlight of Ohio provided fixed-wing air ambulance service to the Roanoke Valley.
Davenport would not disclose details of the Charlie Alpha profit-sharing arrangement between Carilion and Cambata.
For now, CPTS, a for-profit company owned by the not-for-profit Carilion Health System, continues to operate at a loss.
"One of our missions is to pay for what we're spending," Davenport said of CPTS. He declined to say how much the company loses annually.
"We're trying to run this as a business, but we're also putting the patients' care first. Trying to do both is a big challenge. It's such an integral part of the health system and the community that [Carilion] is willing to take the loss."
