Thursday marks the start of pilot flights for the aerial medical delivery project in Traverse City. Drones will take to skies and stay within a three-to-four mile radius surrounding Munson Medical Center as they begin to test functionality and work towards delivering medical supplies and records.
Local officials hope the project will go on to improve healthcare access in rural areas by moving the drone's travel radius to a 20-mile space to allow a quicker transport of supplies and lab information.
Traverse Connect Director of Ecosystem Development Camille Hoisington previously told WCMU that Munson serves more than 540,000 patients in over 29 counties with majority of them being designated as rural. Camille added that Munson employees travel 90,000 miles by road each year, or at least in 2023, to deliver supplies between facilities.
“This groundbreaking and exciting project demonstrates the use of Advanced Aerial Mobility in a unique setting,” said Warren Call, president and CEO of Traverse Connect. “This pilot is the first of its kind in the Grand Traverse region and will provide valuable insights into how rural healthcare access can be improved through advancements in uncrewed aerial systems.”
The project is made possible through Traverse Connect, Munson Healthcare, drone companies DroneUp and blueflite, and Central Michigan University’s Rural Health Equity Institute. A grant from the Advanced Aerial Mobility (AAM) Activation Fund has helped fund the efforts.
Alison Arnold is the executive director of Central Michigan University's Rural Health Equity Institute. She said the hope for the project is to speed up transport and turnaround times for patients.
"They will be testing the capability, so they won't be delivering labs or specimens. They will be practicing, more or less, where they will take off from the lab site and transport a box with maybe a bottle of water in it to demonstrate," Arnold told WCMU. "This phase of the project is just short distance uses of the drone technology, but the hope is to eventually prove these to the point where they can travel beyond a line of sight."
The test flights will take place between May 8-22 between Munson Medical Center, Copper Ridge Surgery Center, and the Munson Dialysis Center.
