Mercy Air 34 to shut down Paso Robles base
Organization says Medi-Cal, Medicare rates contributed to shutdown decision
– Mercy Air 34 announced that its five-year anniversary event, scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 9, has been canceled as the air ambulance service prepares to permanently close later this year. The Paso Robles–based operation said its base will shut down on Nov. 4, 2025, citing long-term patient volume trends and financial pressures, including stagnant reimbursement rates from Medi-Cal and Medicare, according to a post on Instagram.
“For the past five years, we’ve been honored to provide lifesaving emergency care to Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo County, and surrounding communities,” the organization said in its post. “While we had hoped to celebrate this milestone with our community, we must shift our focus to prepare for upcoming closure.”
The service emphasized that it will continue operations until its final day.
“Until our final day of service, we remain fully committed to providing the highest level of care to the community we’re proud to serve,” the statement said.
Is there any way we can try to oppose this? Or figure out how to keep this open? Years ago I along with a group of fellow dirt bikers helped land a helicopter out at Pozo, Turkey Flats, then ran their emergency medical staff as well as the paramedics to a difficult to access dirt bike path. They then provided life saving medical intervention to a rider who broke their back, neck and had serious brain swelling. He needed immediate stabilization and only due to the speed of care received via the strategically placed Mercy helicopter base in Paso, was he able to keep his life. A move like this will put the nearest helicopter hours out and will inevitably kill kids, men, and women of our area who could have been saved if it weren’t for the bureaucracy of it all. Is there anything that we as county citizens can do?
Horrible news for the SLO County community because people will lose their lives. The County Board of Supervisors should step in to save this program.
Is there any way we can try to oppose this? Or figure out how to keep this open? Years ago I along with a group of fellow dirt bikers helped land a helicopter out at Pozo, Turkey Flats, then ran their emergency medical staff as well as the paramedics to a difficult to access dirt bike path. They then provided life saving medical intervention to a rider who broke their back, neck and had serious brain swelling. He needed immediate stabilization and only due to the speed of care received via the strategically placed Mercy helicopter base in Paso, was he able to keep his life. A move like this will put the nearest helicopter hours out and will inevitably kill kids, men, and women of our area who could have been saved if it weren’t for the bureaucracy of it all. Is there anything that we as county citizens can do?
Horrible news for the SLO County community because people will lose their lives. The County Board of Supervisors should step in to save this program.