With the health care disparity widening by the day, Angel Flight and Heart of Australia have teamed up to help improve health and prevent illness in the bush.
Shocking statistics released by National Rural Health Alliance reveal the further an Australian lives from an urban centre, the lower their life expectancy, with rural residents being twice as likely to die from preventable illness. The latest research shows that rural men are 2.5 times and women 2.8 times more likely to die from potentially avoidable causes than those in urban areas.
Heart of Australia have been addressing the gap in healthcare inequity with their mobile specialist medical clinics since 2014, and recently began a collaboration with Angel Flight Australia who for 21 years, have helped rural Australians access medical care through its free flight and drive service.
Seeing the connection in their mission to improve rural health, the two organisations have teamed up, with Angel Flight regularly transporting Heart of Australia specialists and medical staff to outback Queensland through its new Rural Medi-Flights service.
Rural Medi-Flights offers a cost effective, direct and on demand flying solution for busy medics and the high speed 8-10 seat cabin-class twin engine aircraft has the ability to land at all country town airfields including the 36 communities Heart of Australia regularly services through its mobile clinics.
Heart of Australia Founder and Cardiologist Dr Rolf Gomes, who flew into Theodore with Angel Flight this week, said the partnership brings; “a new level of convenience for our specialists who are eager to deliver healthcare to rural, remote, and First Nations communities, but need to reduce the travel time to clinics in order to maximise time with patients on the day.”
CEO Marjorie Pagani who responded to the increase in demand for health professional flights by launching Rural Medi-Flights comments; “It is widely recognised that the arduous nature of the travel required to get out to the bush is one of the main reasons our doctors and nurses are reluctant to leave the city and we are proud to offer a service that encourages more health professionals to help in areas where there is no specialist care.”
Angel Flight has operated for 21 years and conducted nearly 60,000 free flights without any government funding and now for the first time, seeks government assistance as to expand its Rural-Medi-Flights arm from Queensland to all capital cities, Cairns and Port Hedland.
