The airplane ambulance jointly operated by two Lincoln hospitals was grounded last week, apparently dragged down by the weight of increasing costs. BryanLGH Medical Center will continue to operate the Star Care V helicopter it owns. The change affects only the Star Care V airplane.

A fixed-wing air ambulance service owned by Sioux Valley Hospital in Sioux Falls, S.D., will fill the void left by the plane's departure.

For the roughly 15 patients who take airplane ambulance flights to Lincoln or Omaha each month, the change will have no noticeable effect, said Tom Lien, program manager for Sioux Valley Intensive Air/Trauma One.

Airplane ambulance flights typically originate in the North Platte and Valentine areas, heading toward Lincoln or Omaha.

Most are pre-arranged and are not emergency transport for trauma patients, he said.

Airplanes from Sioux Falls can reach those portions of Nebraska in roughly the same amount of time as those from Lincoln, he said. The only difference is the aircraft must make a three-legged, rather than a two-legged, trip. Patients pay only for the portion they are aboard, he said.

The Beechcraft King Air 200 airplane operated by Star Care V had been supported by a joint arrangement between BryanLGH and Saint Elizabeth Regional Medical Center.

The airplane has needed larger subsidies each year to make up for revenue shortfalls, said BryanLGH spokeswoman Suzanne McMasters. Next year, she said, the hospitals would have shared a subsidy of $800,000.

There were 184 fixed-wing Star Care V flights in 2004, she said. Of those, only 65 carried patients to either BryanLGH or Saint Elizabeth.

The Star Care V fixed wing service was the first of its kind in the state when it took off in 1989. The Star Care V helicopter followed in 1994. The airplane was used to reach areas outside the 140-mile reach of the helicopter.

Until recently, three ambulance helicopters served the region, McMasters said. Now, there are seven either in Nebraska or along the borders with Iowa and Missouri, she said.

Lien said the Sioux Falls program, which began in 1977, operates two King Air 200 fixed-wing aircraft and one helicopter. Altogether, they make 1,300 ambulance flights per year. The Sioux Falls hospital provides services for vast rural areas of South Dakota.

Sioux Valley Intensive Air operates 24 hours, seven days a week, and can be contracted through Star Care V, Lien said.

"We're going to be here for some time to come," he said.

Reach Mark Andersen at 473-7238 or mandersen@journalstar.com.