In an effort to better unify and enhance integration and efficiency of its medical transport programs located in multiple states, Intermountain Health is renaming the program to Intermountain Health Flight & Ambulance Services.

This change means unifying current Intermountain medical transport programs, including MedX, Life Flight, Classic Air Medical, Platte Valley Ambulance, Cassia Paramedics, and HELP Flight and renaming them all Intermountain Flight & Ambulance Services – the official medical transport department of Intermountain Health.  

“Each of these lifesaving medical transport programs carry a strong legacy of service and excellence and have established themselves as outstanding members of the medical transport community. By bringing them together under one umbrella organizationally we will build upon those strong foundations with one unified team and one clear identity,” said Adam Hornung, vice president of medical transport, telehealth, clinical command center, and outreach for Intermountain Health. 

Existing names and branding of each of the medical transport programs will be phased out over the course of the next several years.  

“While our name is changing, everything that defines us stays the same – our people, our commitment to excellence, and our mission. Patients and partners will continue to receive the high-quality, responsive care they’ve always known, now delivered under a name that reflects our singular commitment to our mission,” said Hornung. “This transition marks a new chapter – one that honors our legacy while bringing us together under a single, trusted identity.” 

Intermountain Health Flight & Ambulance Services is one of the premier medical transport programs that includes both air and ground transport services.  

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WHAT:

As a critical care nurse for 28 years, Karen Conner, 58, from Lander, Wyoming, never thought she would be on the other side of trauma care, but that’s exactly what happened last April. Now, she’s excited to reunite with the Intermountain Health caregivers who helped save her life and to thank them for all that they did for her.

What started out as a leisurely walk on April 21, 2023. along a dirt road in La Verkin, Utah, with her husband and three dogs, she soon found she was in an Intermountain Life Flight helicopter being flown to the trauma center at Intermountain St. George Hospital.

Conner had smelled something very foul and went to check it out, when she tripped on a rock, fell and slid down the cliff side – headfirst – falling more than 40 feet. Only a small rock and a bush on a ledge kept her from falling further below into the Virgin River.

A quick call by her husband to 9-1-1, got Intermountain Life Flight in the air. The crew used a basket and ropes to get her out of the precarious position on the side of the cliff to get her to the hospital.

Conner’s spine and neck were broken in multiple places, she fractured several bones in her right leg and left ankle, as well as receiving a serious head injury, cuts and bruises.

“I felt very grateful I was still alive and not paralyzed,” said Conner. “Intermountain Health did a great job putting a mess back together.”

On Thursday, August 15, Conner is making the eight-hour drive from her home in Wyoming to thank her caregivers.

News media are invited to cover this poignant reunion and to talk to Conner, her caregivers and trauma experts about how high-level falls are now the 2^nd leading cause of injury in Southern Utah and the St. George region, even surpassing motor vehicle crashes.

WHEN:

10:30, am, MT Thursday, Aug 15, 2024

WHERE:

Intermountain St. George Regional Hospital – Trauma Center

1380 East Medical Center Drive

St. George, UT 84790

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