When Dr. Richard Weiland, a family practitioner in Clarkston, Washington, had a heart attack on December 15, 1999, he couldn’t get off the bedroom floor, so his wife Jenny quickly called 9-1-1.

He was taken to Tri-State Hospital where NW MedStar was called to transport him to Spokane.

As a medical professional, Dr. Weiland appreciated both the competent care he received as well as the friendly bedside manner of the flight crew.

"I have a wry, upbeat sense of humor. Even laying there I was cracking jokes,” he says. “They were all business but had a human side to them that allowed them to laugh in difficult circumstances. They were very nice to my wife,” he adds, noting how much that meant to him.

Dr. Weiland says he signed up for the membership within 24 hours of hearing it was available, and was impressed that NW MedStar has partnership agreements with other critical care air transport agencies to broaden the coverage for members.

“It is a very inexpensive form of being prepared, especially if you have proven risk factors and may need it again down the road,” he says. “It is one more shared community pool that offsets the cost of remaining healthy.”

He sees how frequently patients get transferred from the Lewis-Clark Valley to Spokane or Seattle after getting stabilized, a situation common to smaller hospitals as they work with the larger medical centers to get patients life-saving care.

The NW MedStar membership, says Dr. Weiland, while especially important for patients with health risk factors and risk taking outdoor enthusiasts, should be considered by everyone. He predicts that in the coming years transfers from smaller hospitals to major centers will continue to increase, making the membership a practical safeguard.

“The inevitability that you will probably have a major health issue as you get older should be forefront in your thinking,” he says. “I can’t think of anybody who wouldn’t benefit, with accidents and infectious illnesses, things that are straining the resources of smaller hospitals.”