Mercy Medical Airlift, parent organization of Angel Flight at NIH (AFNIH), celebrated "100,000 Angel Trips" at the Army-Navy Club in Arlington, Virginia on April 18, 2013.
Of the 100,000 patient transports, more than 2,000 were commercial airline tickets Angel Flight at NIH has provided since 2009 for patients flying to the NIH Clinical Center for research studies, as well as patients traveling to the NIH-funded Rare Disease Clinical Research Network (RDCRN) facilities.
Without AFNIH help, these patients would not have been able to participate in research studies because they could not afford the cost of air transportation. AFNIH also saves NIH money, which means more dollars go to research rather than transportation. The public benefit provided by AFNIH is more than $700,000.
Angel Flight at NIH offers air transportation services so patients can participate in research studies offered at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, and at research facilities across the country. Angel Flight at NIH is sponsored by the NIH Office of Rare Diseases Research (ORDR), National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), and administered by Mercy Medical Airlift (MMA).
Mercy Medical Airlift is a non-profit organization that has served people in situations of compelling human need through charitable air transportation since 1977. MMA uses a variety of resources including frequent flyer donation programs, airline contributions, volunteer pilot organizations, business partners, and personal donations.
For more information about the program, contact:
Marita Eddy
Angel Flight at NIH
ORDR-NCATS
6701 Democracy Blvd.
Suite 1001, MSC 4874
Bethesda, MD 20892
meddy@mail.nih.gov
