Submitted Photo An aircraft stands ready with Williston Care Flight to begin service May 31.

WILLISTON – Thanks to a local collaboration, the sky is no longer a limit to the City of Williston’s first responders.

For the last 18 months, Williston has been without locally stationed air medical transportation services after the region’s most recent provider discontinued operations in July of 2023. In the coming months, Williston’s air medical transportation services will return through a collaboration among the City of Williston, CHI St. Alexius Health Williston, and Williston Care Flight, according to a news release.

“We have a unique model for this operation in that we are collaborating with the community, the hospital and the county to bring these air medical services back to Williston.” said Williston Care Flight Vice President Kyle Black in the release.

Already operating Care Flight services from Grand Forks, and Sidney, Montana, Black plans to return these services back to Williston.

Williston Care Flight will operate out of Overland Aviation, of which Black is also co-owner and vice president, with assistance from the Williston Fire Department. Overland Aviation will provide the hangar, office space and fuel for the operation, with Williston Care Flight providing the pilots and mechanics to work alongside three paramedics and three nurses, staffed by the Williston Fire Department.

“Historically when we have initiated operations in a community, our medical staff have been direct employees of the local hospital itself,” Black said. “In this operation, working with (Williston Fire Department) Chief Clark, who already employs paramedics, it made the most operational sense to have our flight paramedics and flight nurses working directly for the fire department, who is already providing local emergency medical services to the community.”

The WFD staff will be new-hire positions. Chief Matt Clark added the long-term intent is to have those become promotable positions that members from the department can seek, train and apply for.

Black said that he anticipates operations for Williston Care Flight to begin May 31, providing emergency flights to larger regional healthcare centers for patients who require specialized treatment.

“Over the course of the last 15 years, there have been four different air ambulance companies that have come and gone in Williston,” said Jacob Keller, Williston Care Flight president. “The historical structure involved with these previous organizations clearly identified that the conventional approach to providing these services wasn’t working and ultimately resulted in the community losing its locally stationed air medical transportation option.”

Keller explained that this critical factor highlighted the necessity for the collaboration that has occurred.

“The Williston Care Flight program will be a part of this community for years to come and community members should take comfort in knowing that the historical events related to overnight loss of air medical transportation services are a thing of the past.” Keller said.

Williston Care Flight also received support from the Williston Economic Development STAR Fund to assist with staffing costs.