A sod-turning took place today on the green south of the Portage and District General Hospital for a heliport. Several dignitaries were in attendance including Manitoba Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen as well as Portage District General Hospital Foundation Chair Dale Lyle.

Dale Lyle "We had an interesting time of it, from the Foundation's perspective," says Lyle. "We started off with plans to just have a helicopter landing area. STARS did some checking with Transport Canada and they said we needed a full-blown heliport -- an officially designated and certified heliport because it's an urban area where the helicopters are landing."

He notes the heliport should be completed by the end of October.

The new helipad will be the second one in the entire province that's located at a hospital, and it's the first outside of Winnipeg.

Manitoba Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen (right) & STARS base director and flight paramedic Grant Therrien (left)Goertzen adds it's obviously a benefit for Portage and area, noting emergencies that take place remotely or someone in need of being transported rapidly to a hospital will now be provided for in the best possible way. He says the helipads both here and in Winnipeg really allow them to use helicopters even better.

He says the idea has always been that a good heliport and helipad system is required to make it work well. So many communities allow a helicopter to land, and a transport to a land ambulance takes them from there to a hospital, which is not ideal. In terms of time and loading and off-loading, he notes, the patient is impacted. Goertzen says other facilities and communities are looking at helipads. He adds Portage recognizes that it makes the overall system work better.

Kelvin Goertzen giving speech