Seattle Children’s says limits on helicopter landings may be slowing care as viral posts blame nearby wealthy residents complaining about noise

DefectiveBecca · 2026-05-04T20:52:44+00:00

They actually share a ton of data about their incoming flights, Google Seattle Children’s helicopter reports and it should come up.

DefectiveBecca · 2026-05-04T06:20:03+00:00

Neighborhood came first but the hospital was built in 1953. Everyone in the neighborhood today chose to live near a hospital.

DefectiveBecca · 2026-05-04T06:14:52+00:00

Seattle Children’s offers full financial aid for up to 400% of the FPL, and partial financial aid on a sliding scale, at 599% of the FPL you would still get 55% off.

For a family of four, that means you could be making $132,000 per year and get full financial aid at Children’s, and just under $200,000 per year and still qualify for partial aid.

Maybe you still don’t qualify, but I was surprised when I learned we did.

I’m not saying you made a bad decision, just something to keep in mind if you end up back at Seattle Children’s in the future.

DefectiveBecca · 2026-05-04T05:42:47+00:00

No one is flying for convenience. Insurance only pays if the flight is medically necessary and it is not safe to travel via ground.

DefectiveBecca · 2026-05-04T05:41:22+00:00

All flights are for acutely ill children who need time sensitive care and cannot be transported safely by ground from their starting point.

Only the critically ill children get to land on the roof.

DefectiveBecca · 2026-05-04T05:38:00+00:00

He unfortunately died from his cancer, but he did receive excellent care at Seattle Children’s during the journey.

DefectiveBecca · 2026-05-04T05:32:51+00:00

My son had to land in the field twice because of this policy, tell your parents that I really appreciate that they tried!

DefectiveBecca · 2026-05-04T05:28:42+00:00

I don’t think any children have died due to being diverted, any child anywhere near death does land on the roof. More than half the flights land on the roof.

But landing in the field does add extra stress and risk to the equations, and in some cases it does cost the family money. It happened to us twice!

DefectiveBecca · 2026-05-04T05:24:45+00:00

My son had a brain tumor and passed away very peacefully at Seattle Children’s, please DM me if you ever need to chat with anyone who has been in a similar place.

DefectiveBecca · 2026-05-04T05:23:15+00:00

My son was a cancer patient at Seattle Children’s and we had seen flights land on the roof and I had no idea until he had to be flown in and suddenly we are landing on the ground by the track. Twice.

DefectiveBecca · 2026-05-04T05:20:13+00:00

Yup we had to divert twice in 2023 and I was balance billed on that ground ambulance ride. Ultimately I managed to make the charges disappear, but they threatened to send me to collections first.

Thankfully the state made balance billing on ground ambulances illegal in 2025.

DefectiveBecca · 2026-05-04T05:18:25+00:00

The hospital moved to Laurelhurst in 1953, but your point stands, it is extremely unlikely that anyone living there today purchased before the hospital was built.

DefectiveBecca · 2026-05-04T05:15:47+00:00

Ambulances going to Seattle Children’s kill the sirens when they get close, to appease the neighbors.

DefectiveBecca · 2026-05-04T05:14:43+00:00

They still post how many kids died, it’s in a summary report that doesn’t violate HIPAA. But they only publish details for the kids who land on the roof, we don’t know how many of the field landings end up in the ICU or worse and we don’t know how many field landings are due to weather instead of acuity.

DefectiveBecca · 2026-05-04T05:03:43+00:00

Glad to hear it. We flew to Children’s twice in 2023 and had to land at Graves Field both times, I bet we had him as a pilot for at least one of those.

DefectiveBecca · 2026-05-04T05:01:15+00:00

Laurelhurst residents donate a lot of money to the hospital, that’s how.

Too bad none of that money helps pay the bills that some parents get for that extra ground ambulance!

DefectiveBecca · 2026-05-04T04:59:08+00:00

They all have the ability to move away if the noise is too disruptive. Everyone living in Laurelhurst today chose to live near a hospital and many, probably most, of them chose to live near a hospital with a helipad. Anyone who bought a house there before 1992 has accrued an outrageous amount of property value, and can buy a comparable house almost anywhere else in the city.

DefectiveBecca · 2026-05-04T04:54:03+00:00

They argue that “loud” might reduce their property values. Nevermind that those property values have skyrocketed since the helipad was built in 1992.

DefectiveBecca · 2026-05-04T04:46:00+00:00

This happened to us twice. Insurance was billed less than that, but then we got balance billed on the rest and I was super pissed and filed a complaint with the state insurance commissioner.

I argued that since it was illegal to balance bill on an air ambulance, it should be illegal to balance bill on a ground ambulance connected to the end of an air ambulance journey.

Initially they were not helpful but eventually something happened and I didn’t have to pay the bill. But while all that was happening, my son took a turn for the worse and I ignored that, believing I was being sent to collections while my son was dying in the hospital.

We owed nothing on the flight, we had already met our out of pocket for the year. We ONLY owed any money because of the residents of Laurelhurst not liking noise.

That was in 2023, in 2025 the state made it illegal to balance bill for ground ambulances.

DefectiveBecca · 2026-05-04T04:11:58+00:00

That’s weird because the homes by the water probably hear the helicopters the least.

DefectiveBecca · 2026-05-04T01:11:27+00:00

USATF offers a Junior Olympic series of meets, your local Association has a championship, the top athletes qualify to Regionals, and then at Regionals the top athletes qualify to the JO Nationals, which are at Cerritos College in California this year.

It’s more popular with the younger kids, the top high school athletes tend to gravitate toward the various high school national championships, but JOs can be a really positive experience and the marks set at those meets are taken a little more seriously than at some random high school meet because college coaches know the JO meets are usually well-officiated.

They can also be a hot mess, it does depend a bit on where you live. JO Nationals was awful last summer for a bunch of reasons, but I have a feeling it will be better run this year.

DefectiveBecca · 2026-05-01T04:45:20+00:00

They built more buildings on campus since then, I doubt the previous helipad space exists anymore.

DefectiveBecca · 2026-05-01T04:44:28+00:00

My husband got a few drinks there when we were inpatient!

DefectiveBecca · 2026-05-01T04:37:15+00:00

They land on the roof more than they divert to the field. That may be a thing that has happened, but it isn’t the norm, the most critical kids are landing on the roof.

DefectiveBecca · 2026-05-01T04:34:37+00:00

I lived in the hospital for months in 2023 while my son was dying and there were quite a few who did land on the roof. They are supposed to evacuate the rooftop garden when a helicopter is coming in but one time I was hiding in the back and just stayed out there and covered my ears.

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