When most people think about airports, they picture commercial flights, family vacations, and business trips.
But at Rochester International Airport (RST), a significant amount of activity happening beyond the commercial terminal has a very different purpose: helping patients get the specialized medical care they need.
Every day, aircraft arrive and depart from RST’s lesser-known General Aviation (GA) area. While many people associate General Aviation with private aircraft and corporate travel, much of the activity on RST’s GA ramp is tied directly to patient care, medical transport and life-saving healthcare services.
It’s one of the many ways RST supports Rochester’s role as a global medical destination.
Extending Mayo Clinic Care Across the Country
Operating from RST, Mayo Clinic Ambulance Service’s air ambulance program serves patients throughout the Midwest and far beyond.
Using a King Air 350 fixed-wing aircraft, Mayo’s flight crews transport patients requiring advanced critical care from communities across the United States. In 2025, the program completed more than 150 flights.
“We serve Mayo Clinic patients across the Midwest and beyond,” said Todd Lepper, Director of Air Operations for Mayo Clinic Ambulance Service. “Many of these patients require highly specialized care that is only available at Mayo Clinic.”
Patients transported to Rochester come for a wide variety of reasons, including organ transplants, complex cardiac conditions, respiratory illnesses, neonatal and pediatric care, and other highly specialized treatments.
Unlike traditional medical transportation, these flights often provide ICU-level care while patients are in the air.
“Our crews are essentially extending the Mayo Clinic experience,” Lepper said. “For patients on our flights, their Mayo Clinic care begins before they ever arrive in Rochester.”
A Flying Intensive Care Unit
Each air ambulance flight is typically staffed by two pilots, a critical care nurse, and a critical care paramedic specially trained to care for critically ill patients during transport.
Some flights are emergency missions launched on short notice. Others are planned days in advance to coordinate specialized treatments or transplant procedures.
The patients themselves vary widely.
Many are conscious during transport. Others may require advanced respiratory support or continuous monitoring. Mayo’s teams are equipped to provide sophisticated medical interventions while en route to Rochester.
“We transport some of the most complex patients imaginable,” Lepper said. “These can be situations involving multiple organ systems, severe cardiac conditions, respiratory failure, or critically ill infants and children.”
“The role of the aviation team is to provide transportation, but the critical care teams are the ones doing the real magic,” Lepper said. “The level of care they provide and the medical interventions they’re able to perform in flight are remarkable. We have incredibly talented clinicians, and we’re proud that we’re able to support the lifesaving work they do every day.”
Upon arrival at RST, patients are transferred directly to waiting Mayo Clinic ambulances and transported to the Rochester campus.
Photo credit: Mayo Clinic
Operating from RST, Mayo Clinic Ambulance Service’s air ambulance program serves patients throughout the Midwest and far beyond.
Using a King Air 350 fixed-wing aircraft, Mayo’s flight crews transport patients requiring advanced critical care from communities across the United States. In 2025, the program completed more than 150 flights.
“We serve Mayo Clinic patients across the Midwest and beyond,” said Todd Lepper, Director of Air Operations for Mayo Clinic Ambulance Service. “Many of these patients require highly specialized care that is only available at Mayo Clinic.”
Supporting Organ Donation and Transplantation
One of the most unique aspects of Mayo Clinic’s air ambulance program is its support of the Donor Care Unit at Saint Marys Hospital.
The Donor Care Unit allows patients who have been declared brain dead or who meet criteria for cardiac death to be transported to Rochester, where specialized teams can preserve organs for transplantation.
The approach significantly increases the amount of time available to match donated organs with recipients, ultimately helping save more lives.
Since the Donor Care Unit launched approximately two years ago, more than 200 lives have been saved through the program. (Some of the unit’s patients are transported by ground and some by air.)
There are several dozen donor care units across the country, but this program is unique to the region because it is the only one flying to Rochester for specialized care and organ preservation at Mayo Clinic, Lepper said.
Part of a Much Larger Medical Aviation Network
Mayo Clinic’s aircraft is only one piece of the medical aviation activity happening at RST.
Aircraft from other hospitals and private medical transport companies arrive regularly from across the United States and around the world, bringing patients to Rochester for specialized care.
On any given day, visitors to the General Aviation ramp might see aircraft arriving from Florida, Texas, Arizona, California, or international destinations carrying patients seeking treatment at Mayo Clinic. In 2025, over 800 patients were picked up by Mayo Clinic ambulances from the General Aviation ramp. These flights are in addition to all the patients who arrive in Rochester on commercial flights.
“There’s an entire medical transportation network operating through Rochester,” Lepper said. “We’re just one part of it, but a part that’s very critical to its success.”
For most travelers, airports are gateways to destinations. For many patients arriving at RST, however, the airport is something more important: a gateway to specialized care, recovery and hope.
Photo credit: Mayo Clinic. Additionally, Mayo Clinic Air Operations is responsible for helicopter bases in Rochester, Eau Claire and Mankato. Between the plane and the helicopters, more than 2,000 patient transports occurred in 2025.
Sidebar: Mayo Clinic Medical Aviation at RST By the Numbers
- 150+ Mayo Clinic air ambulance flights annually
- 1 airplane available at RST
- 24/7 availability
- ICU-level care provided in flight
- Patients transported from more than 30 states
- Specialized neonatal and pediatric transports
- Direct connection between RST and Mayo Clinic’s world-class care
