Additional funding sought for Mercy Folsom's helipad

At least three times a month, Folsom's police and fire departments close off Creekside Drive so a life flight helicopter can land on the street in front of Mercy Hospital."There is no place else for the helicopter to land," noted Rosemary Younts, senior development officer for Mercy Foundation.As the sole emergency care provider for Folsom, El Dorado Hills and nearby communities, there is a critical need for life flight transport of injured or ill patients to hospitals offering specialized care.Two years ago when planning started for the Emergency Department expansion, a helipad was included. "We then started looking at costs and decided it was prohibitive," Younts said. The consensus was the funds would be better used to purchase updated equipment for the facility.It wasn't long before Jim Pelley, a member of the Foundation's Community Council, announced he had gotten a commitment from the Rotary Club of Historic Folsom to spearhead the fundraising campaign for a ground level helipad.After several events, including a highly successful M.A.S.H. Bash, the club had raised $100,000 and preliminary discussions for the helipad location got underway. Six months ago during a meeting with Folsom city staff, however, it was determined a ground level helipad simply wasn't practical. In the event of a natural disaster, such as flooding or the failure of Folsom Dam, for example, ground transportation throughout Folsom would be severely impacted."Ideally, we need to place the heliport on the roof of the ambulance canopy being built in conjunction with our new emergency department," noted Mercy Hospital President Don Hudson in a recent letter to Congressman Dan Lungren. "We have a one-year window to raise funds to make this happen while the department is being constructed."While construction started last year, the ambulance canopy would not be built until early 2008, Younts explained. Cost estimates for reinforcing the ambulance canopy for the heliport as well as installing an elevator and perimeter lighting, ranges from $750,000 to $950,000, Hudson noted."We're looking for private funding," Younts said. "We're also working with Lungren's office to see if there is any federal disaster funding (for this project)."Pelly acknowledged the Rotary Club of Historic Folsom remains committed to the project. He also recognizes the difficulty of raising the additional funds in 12 months."We raised $100,000, he said. "Now we're hoping someone will come forward (with the additional funds).""Our main focus this year will be the heliport, Younts added. "We need a hero, a champion."