SouthSTAR, one of 2 publicly-funded medical helicopters, is calling it quits after 28 years. Here's why.
A boy is thrown from an ATV in a wooded area of the Pine Barrens. A man loses control of his motorcycle on a rural road. A mother is ejected from her car in a multi-vehicle pile up on the New Jersey Turnpike.
Amid the flashing lights of police cars and first responders, the whir of a helicopter's blades can be heard overhead, preparing to land and rush the patients to a nearby trauma center in an effort to save their lives.
Over the past 10 years, the number of air medical helicopters serving New Jersey has increased, but as of last week there will be one less medevac -- the longest-running and largest in size -- responding to calls.
After nearly three decades of service, SouthSTAR -- one of the two publicly-funded air medical helicopters serving New Jersey -- ceased its operations as of July 1. Officials with the New Jersey State Police and Virtua Health, who jointly operate the program, point to the crowded skies, full of privately-owned air medical operations, as the reason they're grounding their own flights.
The influx of private choppers in New Jersey -- and nationwide -- has left questions about what the future of air medical services will look like in New Jersey and just how much it will cost.
28 years and 25,000 missions
Since 1988, the state has helped provide air medical services for trauma situations through a publicly-funded program overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services. The New Jersey State Police maintain and provide the pilots for the two helicopters -- known as NorthSTAR and SouthSTAR, or JEMSTAR combined -- and hospitals staff the aircraft with nurses and paramedics.
Every three years, the hospitals -- Virtua in the south and the University Hospital in Newark in the north -- have to submit a bid to the state to be eligible for the grant money that supports the program. A $3 surcharge on motor vehicle registration feeds the dedicated fund for air medical services.
But this year, after 28 years of service and more than 25,000 missions, Virtua opted not to reapply, saying the growing competition has drastically decreased their number of flights and patients
"After careful analysis and review, Virtua determined that the significant decline in SouthSTAR's flight volume makes the program no longer sustainable," Virtua said in a statement.
No other hospitals have put in a bid, according to health department spokeswoman Dawn Thomas
"The department is still determining how to proceed from here," she added.
Private choppers change the game
The state police emblem on the side of SouthSTAR was easily recognized as the helicopter took off from Hammonton airport, landed in fields or on state highways and escorted patients to Cooper Hospital's trauma unit in Camden, and other surrounding hospitals.
But over the past decade, more medevacs with different names can be seen on emergency calls -- PennStar, Air Two, Medevac 5. Aside from SouthSTAR, there are six air medical helicopters servicing south Jersey.
In 2006, the state started licensing private medical helicopters to initially be used for inter-hospital transfers. Overtime, these private helicopters started assisting the state helicopters at accidents and emergency situations. Later, state law was changed to dictate that whichever helicopter was closest -- not just SouthSTAR --should respond to the scene.
"Due to the increasing number of air medical providers serving South Jersey, over the past 10 years, SouthSTAR flights have fallen from an average of 75 per month in 2006 to an average of just 20 per month in 2015, and 14 per month during the first quarter of 2016," Virtua said in a statement.
Virtua has been at odds with the private helicopters and hospitals that support them for the past few years. In 2011, the hospital filed a complaint against the state health department, claiming the licensing of a new helicopter at Cooper University Hospital, called Air Two, would have a negative effect on medical services in South Jersey.
Adding another helicopter into the system - with the volume of flights remaining stable from year to year - means that our nurses and paramedics will have fewer opportunities to maintain their skills," Scott Kasper, Virtua's Corporate Director of Emergency Services, said at the time.
Cooper University did not return requests for comment. PennSTAR, another competitor that flies into New Jersey from across the Delaware River, said last week it was aware of SouthSTAR's end and is "working closely with other air medical operators in the area to ensure continued service" in south Jersey.
What it's going to cost you
While the quality of care is a concern, finances are a big factor in the emergency medical services field.
In the past 10 years, the funds generated for the program have more than doubled. According to a state report from 2007, $9 million was generated for JEMSTAR that year. In 2015, $22 million was collected for the program, according to the state's treasurer's office. Years ago an in-flight ride on SouthSTAR would cost a patient $1,300, but due to the increase in funds, SouthSTAR costs nothing out of pocket to anyone using the service.
But a flight in a private medical helicopter could be tens of thousands of dollars. Patients throughout the country have reported being billed upwards of $40,000 for what can be a 15-minute life-saving flight that insurance companies are refusing to cover, according to an ABC News report in May.
To reduce costs, an industry-trade group, The Association of Air Medical Services, is asking federal lawmakers to help increase Medicare payments to the helicopter companies, according to a New York Times report.
In New Jersey, its unclear how the millions of dollars dedicated to air medical services will be spent. State officials in the health department did not respond to requests about how much money remains in the fund now that SouthSTAR won't be receiving any.
Private companies aren't eligible for the funding, according Vince Robbins, president and CEO of MONOC, which provides air medical services in Monmouth and Ocean counties with the company MedTrans.
Robbins said the state should reconsider the publicly-funded program and redirect the funding to the private companies.
"The public should know that private MedEvac providers are so prolific in NJ that the historical state MedEvac program is now obsolete and the funds previously used to sustain that program, should be redirected to offset the cost to patients who must use private services," Robbins said. "Why does the state continue to insist on supporting an obsolete program that has essentially already been replaced by the private sector?"
Staff writer Jessica Beym contributed to this report.
CJ Fairfield may be reached at cfairfield@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @fairfielc4. Find NJ.com on Facebook.