To the editor:

A Nov. 4 Journal-World article regarding use of the Kansas University aircraft failed to discuss the wonderful assistance provided to Kansans by our airborne medical programs. I wanted to set the record straight.

Did you know that university aircraft allowed KU Medical Center doctors to personally see more than 2,500 rural patients last year? Or that KU aircraft dispatch doctors to the state’s most underserved areas? Sadly, the most routine uses of university aircraft are often the most overlooked.

About two-thirds of all university flights are used for medical center outreach, which allows specialists to visit patients in their home settings instead of requiring costly travel. The wide use of our aircraft by KU doctors allows us to remain dedicated to our core mission: improving the health and lives of Kansans.

For the past 24 years, medical center oncologists like me have traveled to parts of Kansas that lay outside reasonable driving distance to supplement the excellent work of local doctors. I learn as much from them as I hope they learn from me, and our journey perpetuates the symbiotic relationship between pioneering research and crucial treatment.

It is our hope that the most important use of state resources – namely, to advance the welfare of Kansans – is not lost amid the publicity generated by those who seek only the negative angle. Our fundamental goal continues to be the use of any and all available means to improve the health of our most important audience – Kansans.

Dr. Gary Doolittle,

KU Medical Center