The air medical industry lies at the unique intersection of two specialized knowledge areas: aviation and healthcare. Developing real estate in this industry (e.g., building bases of operation) demands further technical competencies in the areas of commercial real estate development, commercial construction, finance, and project management. Uniting all of these skillsets is a vital prerequisite for ensuring the success of any base development project.

At SME, our team sees each base construction project as a unique undertaking. Factors such as geographical location, time of year, particular program needs, and stakeholder involvement will impact the project scope, risks, and costs. To begin and stay on the road to success, smart analysis, early planning, and management of strategic and daily tasks is required. (see our article on Base Planning)
Do you know what it takes to build an air medical base? The complexity of the process may surprise you. In this article, we share some of our base-building experiences and knowledge, specifically:
an overview of the planning, building and management processes that are involved
the importance of having a team with base development experience
some real-life stories of successful projects and a few that went off-the-tracks

SME specializes in building bases. Before founding our company, we were successful program leaders who faced the joys and challenges of expanding our flight programs. We looked for a company that could effectively manage our base development projects and found that that didn’t exist. We changed that by bringing together leaders in not only critical care transport, commercial development, and financing to create a team with industry solutions that are crew-inspired and data-driven.