GundersenAIR to host open house Wednesday evening at new Decorah hangar

Gundersen Health System is holding an open house Wednesday for its new GundersenAIR hangar in Decorah.  The open house will run from 4:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. at the facility at 2343 Shagbark Lane, just northwest of the Decorah Municipal Airport.

Community members can tour the 65-foot by 60-foot facility with adjacent helipad and crew quarters. A helicopter also will be onsite, unless dispatched to an emergency.

GundersenAIR has stationed a helicopter in a rented space at the Decorah Municipal Airport since June 2016. GundersenAIR leaders partnered with the City of Decorah and Decorah Municipal Airport Commission to construct the new permanent hangar.

"Basing a helicopter in Decorah helps us to better serve our service area in Northeast Iowa and Southeast Minnesota by shortening response times and improving patient outcomes," said GundersenAIR program director Stephanie Hill.

GundersenAIR's service area encompasses a 150-mile radius of La Crosse, including communities throughout western Wisconsin, northeastern Iowa and southeastern Minnesota. A crew of 25 critical care nurses and specially-trained flight paramedics and eight pilots complete about 700 flights annually.