Hospital helistop fully functional again

File photo.

LUDINGTON — The helistop at Spectrum Health Ludington Hospital is operational again. The helistop, which opened earlier this winter, had been closed for night flights since Wednesday, Aug. 27.

“We took the helistop out of service as a safety precaution when the wires for the lighting system were accidentally cut during installation of a new fiber optic line to the hospital,” said hospital spokesman Bill Kerans. “Repairs were made Friday morning —which was the first opportunity for the electrical repair crew—and the helistop is back in normal operation.”

During the outage hospital emergency department personnel reverted to the standard backup system of using the Mason County Airport for emergency transport. “The backup plan worked just as designed,” Kerans said. “That is the same system we used for several years until the hospital volunteers’ fundraising resulted in the construction of the new helistop.”

Only one flight needed to use the airport during the temporary outage.