The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded Beta Technologies a $20 million contract to evaluate how electric aircraft could support public health provision. In the first phase of work announced on Wednesday, Beta will install electric charging systems at 22 sites along the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico as part of a pilot program to assess how electric aircraft might be a viable alternative to helicopters for emergency medical operations.
Beta’s charging systems can support ground vehicles and multiple electric aircraft types, including the Alia models it is developing for both VTOL and runway-based operations. The new sites will use energy from the grid and will expand a U.S. network of chargers already established by the company to enable HHS’s planned Emergency Preparedness Platform. The most recent addition to the network is Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers Airport in Mississippi.
HHS’ Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) is running a pilot program to assess how it can addresses higher rates of morbidity and mortality in rural areas caused by inadequate access to local health care. It is considering how new mobility solutions and infrastructure could offer lower-cost alternatives to helicopters, which, in any case, can be operationally restricted in IFR weather conditions.
According to a 2020 report by Kaiser Health News & Reveal, between 2014 and 2019 nearly 170 human organs for transplant procedures could not be taken to where they were needed due to transportation delays of two hours or more. Another 370 cases were categorized as “near misses,” underlining how precarious the organ transplant transportation process can be.
Improving Healthcare Access For Rural Communities
According to Vermont-based Beta, its charging infrastructure will expand access to electric air and ground vehicles that could support a more cost-effective network for delivering equipment and medicines and get patients from more remote areas the care they need. Its work under the HHS contract is also intended to help the ASPR respond more rapidly to natural and public health emergencies.
“We expect this work with Beta to give ASPR and other federal partners the ability to get vital materials and equipment to ground zero when other land-based modes of transportation are unavailable,” said Arlene Joyner, director of ASPR’s Office of Industrial Base Management and Supply Chain.
Emergency medical support is one of several missions for which Beta’s Alia aircraft are being developed. The fixed-wing Alia model that will operate from runways is expected to enter service in 2025, with the VTOL version to follow in 2026.
The company already has 31 charging units in operation at sites in Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, and Arkansas, and is working on plans for another 50 sites. Its customers for this vehicle-agnostic equipment include the U.S. Department of Defense, other electric aircraft developers including Archer Aviation, various U.S. airports, and FBO operators Signature Aviation and Atlantic Aviation.