Bastrop, Texas – August 13, 2025 

Bastrop County Emergency Services District #3 approved a new emergency air medical transportation agreement with PHI Air Medical.   The agreement provides County residents with air medical transportation with no out-of-pocket expense.    

The PHI Cares program is a subscription-based program that protects covered residents should they experience a medical or traumatic emergency and requirement transportation by PHI Air Medical within Bastrop and contiguous counties including, Lee, Fayette, Caldwell, Gonzales, Travis and Williamson.   Previously, the cities of Smithville and Bastrop provided similar coverage to their residents.   The ESD’s action replaces and extends this benefit to all county residents.   

PHI Air Medical has maintained a base on Highway 71 in Cedar Creek for almost 15 years.   The local helicopter receives approximately 25 calls per month in Bastrop County, including scene calls and interfacility transports.    

“With no full-service hospital in Bastrop County, air-medical transportation for an emergent patient in need of a cardiac, stroke or trauma center, or other critical care resource is a common occurrence,” according to ESD Board member and former paramedic Loren Stagner.  “Ground transportation for many areas of the county can take 45+ minutes and this will only increase as the county grows and traffic gets worse.”   

PHI staffs their helicopters with a pilot, critical care nurse and a critical care paramedic.  Each crew is trained and equipped to provide intensive care on scene and during transport.  The Cedar Creek unit flies a Bell 407 helicopter capable of transporting a single patient.   Response times within Bastrop County are less than 20 minutes from the time of activated by local responders or healthcare facility.   

Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, PHI is one of the nation’s largest air medical providers, with 80 bases in 17 states including 18 bases in Texas alone.  Similar programs are in place in communities in many of the markets they serve. 

According to ESD Board member Keith Simpson, “the out-of-pocket expenses after insurance pay or for those without insurance coverage can be overwhelming, especially if the patient cannot work as they recover.  As a new ESD, the board desired to provide a benefit to the community right away.” 

The approximately $200,000 annual cost of the program is based on 35,000 households and 98,000 residents.   The program excludes Medicaid beneficiaries that are already covered under the State Medicaid program.   “We believe there is value to the program and will be monitoring both appropriate utilization and cost going forward,” Stagner added.    

With the ESD program in place, the cities of Smithville and Bastrop will save $11,000 and $32,000 respectively.  

About PHI, Inc… 

PHI Air Medical is a leading air medical transport provider, operating over 80 air medical bases in the nation. These bases provide outreach education to local communities and healthcare systems across the nation. Safely transporting more than 30,000 patients each year, each PHI Air Medical base maintains a crew of highly trained pilots, flight nurses, and paramedics – prepared to respond to emergency medical transport requests.  

About ESD #3… 

Bastrop County ESD #3 was formed in January 2025 as a special purpose district to fund and oversee EMS service in Bastrop County.