Vail Valley Medical Center officials want an on-site helipad as part of a years-long, $100 million renovation plan, according to an article on the Vail Today website.
The current helipad sits on property owned by the Colorado Department of Transportation. That state agency could order a halt to future flights from the property, although Vail Community Development Department Director George Ruther said state officials seem willing to allow continued use of the site for the foreseeable future.
To streamline the patient-transfer process, medical center officials are proposing a helipad on the northwest corner of the medical center’s current parking structure.
That landing site would be built as part of a major renovation of the existing parking structure, and would allow patients to be taken directly from the hospital to the helicopter.
That plan is currently being looked over by the Vail Planning and Environmental Commission. The Vail Town Council will start its review of the plan in December, although Ruther said hearings are likely to continue into early 2015.
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