STARS celebrates 5 years in Sask., receives government funding

Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service, better known as STARS, is celebrating five years in Saskatchewan.

Since 2012, the air ambulance service has carried out more than 4,000 missions at 500 locations across the province. On Monday, Health Minister Jim Reiter, Rural and Remote Health Minister Greg Ottenbreit and Crown Investments Corporation Minister Joe Hargrave joined staff and patients to mark the anniversary and announce new funding.

“The provincial government is a proud partner of STARS and recognizes the significant role it plays in providing life-saving care for the people of Saskatchewan,” Reiter said in a written news release. “I am pleased to confirm today that the Ministry of Health will provide $10.5 million in funding in 2017-18.”

STARS has bases in Regina and Saskatoon. The service operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to provide emergency air medical services across the province, especially in rural and remote areas.

“The geography of Saskatchewan is part of what makes us who we are, but it comes with its own set of challenges,” Ottenbreit said in a written statement. “STARS ensures that people facing traumatic injury in a rural or remote location have access to emergency health care.”

STARS will receive $10 million, or $2 million per Crown corporation, over the next five years.

“Our Crowns are proud to support the important service that STARS provides to this province,” Hargrave said in a news release. “Crown employees work in all corners of our province and it is important for them to know that if they ever needed emergency services, STARS will be there for them.”

Since 2012, four helipads have been built at or near hospitals throughout Saskatchewan. The new Children’s Hospital of Saskatchewan will have the first permanent helipad in Saskatoon.

“We are proud to have become an integral part of Saskatchewan’s health care system in the last five years, working alongside our local partners in the chain of survival,” STARS president and CEO Andrea Robertson said. “When seconds count, STARS is honoured to give those in need a second chance.”