The service started in February, and as of mid-June had transported five infants for care in the hospital’s Level III NICU.
“They’re all thriving,” said Dr. Craig Anderson, the medical director of the hospital’s Mary K. Chapman NICU.
Ascension St. John, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, became the state’s second certified Level I trauma center last year. The NICU’s Level III designation is the second highest. It means the hospital can provide care and support services, including advanced respiratory support and surgery, for newborns with a range of conditions. The hospital sees infants beginning at 22 weeks gestational age.
The hospital had NICU medical helicopter transport several years ago, but for various reasons it was dropped. The hospital reinstated the program partly to stay competitive, since other hospitals in Tulsa offer it, and to do more to help patients in rural areas, Anderson said.
“Even some places in southeast Oklahoma that we would serve could be a four-hour drive,” Anderson said. “If a baby is born and they’re critical, the first hour of life is very, very crucial to the potential outcome in life.”
The faster the babies can be transported with a team of trained staff to a hospital that can provide a higher level of care, the better, he said.
Preparing for a flight
If a baby needs advanced neonatal care, the rural or regional hospital calls Ascension St. John’s transfer center to request a flight. The hospital contracts with a company called Air Methods to secure the flights. Before the helicopter arrives, Ascension St. John clinicians can talk by phone with the clinicians in the rural hospitals to walk them through life-preserving steps.
A specially trained NICU nurse and a respiratory therapist from the hospital flies with the helicopter crew to pick up the baby.
Their goal is to be out the door within 30 minutes of getting the call.
Not all of the hospitals have helipads, Anderson pointed out. Some helicopters land in parking lots, on rooftops and even in hayfields.
Libby Allen is the assistant nurse manager for the NICU and a flight-trained nurse. She said that once the team arrives, they do a quick assessment of the baby and perform any procedures or interventions needed to stabilize the newborn. They update the parents, especially the mothers, who are recovering from delivery themselves.
“We make sure she gets to lay eyes on the baby and say goodbye, and then off we go,” Allen said. “We try to get in and get out as quick as we can.”
The clinicians place the baby in a special transport incubator, which is then put on a specialized sled to stay secure in the helicopter. The clinicians closely monitor the babies, and the special equipment guards them from external temperature fluctuations and noise from the flight.
Anderson said that about 75% of babies admitted to the NICU are there for respiratory reasons, and most babies transported have difficulty breathing. Anything that can be done to restore oxygen to the brain helps, he said. “Minutes and hours are even too long,” he said. “Seconds count in these moments.”
Rural challenges
Oklahoma’s rural hospitals and its mothers are vulnerable to issues that may risk babies’ lives. The Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform identified 48 rural hospitals in Oklahoma that are at risk of closing, with 20 of them at immediate risk of closing. Closed hospitals mean mothers may have to travel further for prenatal care or to deliver their babies. The March of Dimes says Oklahoma ranks among states with the highest percentage of maternity care deserts, with just over half of its 77 counties having no hospitals or birth centers offering obstetric care.
The March of Dimes gave Oklahoma a preterm birth grade of D in its 2025 report card, saying that the state ranks 37th among all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, for preterm births, with a rate of 11%. The infant mortality rate in Oklahoma is 7.1 per 1,000 live births, compared to the nationwide rate of 5.6.
Anderson said he knows it’s scary for families in rural areas to have a baby moved to a NICU in a city. The Ascension St. John parking garage is bigger than any building in some of these towns, he pointed out.
To allay fears, the hospital helps to build connections between the family and their baby. There is enough room in the Ascension St. John NICU for a family member to stay overnight with their infant, with showers and other amenities available. The hospital recently bought more than 40 Angel Eye cameras so that parents and families can monitor the babies via livestream.
Having the NICU resources helps Ascension St. John fulfill its role as a Catholic healthcare ministry.
“It’s to reach out to anyone in need, in whatever community you’re from,” Anderson said.
Many people in rural areas have limited resources, Allen said. “And this gives them hope that they can access specialized neonatal care.”