Lahey Hospital & Medical Center opens new on-site helideck

Closer proximity to the emergency department saves critical minutes in patient transport

Burlington, Mass. – A new helideck at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center (LHMC) is now in service next to the hospital’s emergency department, providing improved access for critically-ill and trauma patients needing urgent medical treatment. LHMC receives approximately 115 trauma and critically-ill patients by helicopter a year, with patients coming directly from an on-scene trauma event or transferred from another hospital.

“For patients with conditions that are life-threatening, time is of the essence,” said Malcolm Creighton, MD, chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine and Hospital Based Specialties at LHMC. “As the only Level 1 Trauma Center located on Massachusetts’ North Shore, patients rely on LHMC for quick and seamless access to emergency care, and the new helideck is crucial to providing that for our patients when they need it the most.”

Before the new helideck was finished, medical helicopter transports to LHMC landed a short distance away from the hospital and patients were then brought to LHMC’s emergency department by ambulance. The new helideck saves precious seconds and minutes in transferring patients to the emergency department or other critical care areas of the hospital that can often make a vital difference in outcomes.

Completion of the new helideck is the final phase of a significant renovation and expansion of the Joseph C. Corkery, MD, Emergency Center, which opened in 2017. The onsite placement of the helideck, combined with the updated facilities, allows LHMC’s team of emergency medicine experts to provide high-quality, evidence-based emergency care to the region.

“We are grateful for the support from the community and the generous donors who helped fund this integral piece of the Joseph C. Corkery, MD, Emergency Center,” said David Longworth, MD, president of LHMC. “With combined philanthropic gifts totaling more than $2 million dollars, this investment in the greater Burlington area is fundamental to our mission of providing exceptional care both to patients in the immediate community and those from surrounding areas who require our level of care in emergency situations.”