Memorial Hermann Life Flight® is a critical care, air medical transport service based in Houston, Texas. Life Flight serves the community within a 150-mile radius of Houston's Texas Medical Center with helicopters, and worldwide using fixed-wing transport. We are the only hospital-based air ambulance serving Houston and surrounding communities. Founded in 1976 by James "Red" Duke, M.D., the service operates around the clock – weather permitting – 24-hours a day, 365 days a year. Since its inaugural flight, Memorial Hermann Life Flight has flown more than 158,000 missions.
Provided as a community service by Memorial Hermann, Life Flight operates as a hospital-based, non-profit organization and relies on community support and fundraising efforts to pay for the service. It costs about $15 million annually to support the program, none of which comes from tax dollars.