## PI N ES HEALTH SERVICE S

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# o WA S HB URN - ", P rimary Care (207) 4 5 5 - 4 750 • (20 7 ) 455 - 472 9 Ms. Susan Kurland Assistant Secret a ry for Aviation and International Affairs Mr . Dennis DeVany Chief , EAS Program U.S. Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Avenue , SE Washington , D~ 20590 .", Re: ' Es ' senti~1 

### Air ~e rvicea t Pre~q ~~ 

### ! sle Docket DOT : -OSt -~OOp - q012 • I - ~ " J > .

. ' Dear M . S.

Kurland a 0 9 rv1r : . peV ~ H iY: .

.. . . . . On beh ' ~ lf ' O f Pines ~ . H ealth S~rv i c. ~$ , . J . ~~ wr it ! q g t o express o ur st renq s u p p ort f o r the proposal of Peninsula : A irways . Jnc " to ' c o ' n t in ' u e ' prov i d i ng a i r service be twe e n P resque I sl e (P QI) , Maine, and Boston (BOS) , Massachusetts . PenA i r ' s nonstop service to/from Boston is the only scheduled air service link for Presque Isl e . It is c r itically import ant for our community and my F e d eral l y Q u al i f i e d Health Cen ter , which rely on this serv i ce for serv i ce to Boston and fo r mak i ng connections to Boston ' s large netwo r k o f U . S. and foreign destinat i ons. PenAir ' s non-s t op service i s essentia l fo r b u s i ness t ravel to e d ucati onal conferences and management meetings . More important , it also serves as the cri t ical differentiato r i n our ongoing physician rec r ui t ment and re t en t ion p roqrarn . , W i thout acce s s . t o rap i d , rel i able a i r service to a major urban hub , we would , be u n a ble t o att ract qualifie d phys i cia ns to ' li ve a nd wo r k i n our Federally - desig n ate d Hea l th Professio n al Sho rtage Area (HPSA) . Ou r examp l e o f u ti l i zat ion a n d need from a health care delivery standpoint is mirrored by bus i nesses t hroughout Aroos t oo k Cou nty . With the next ' closest commercial ' airport a th ree-hour drive away through Maine ' s seve re w i n t er weat her , d ri ving south t o Bangor i s no t a real i s t ic opt i on and adds S i gnificant l y t o the a lready hi gh overall cost of travel. Addit i o h all -y , PenA i r ' s I p~ al. s t aff and f li gh t crews at the Nort hern Main e Regional Airport " are distinguished i n ' their ~ abil i ty

# to respond to t he f requentl y short notice a n d u nique needs experienced by our organization . ~ ', . ,

IID C - 004 72 1/000002 - 5500596 v l

" Pin es He a lth Se rvices - c olla b orating te i tb C ary Medica l Ce nter and othe r s to p rov ide quali ty h e alth care "Pines staff has used PenAir ' s service to fly from Presque Isle to Boston and destinations

beyond Boston well over thirty times during the past two years . We have had very good service flying on PenAir , far superior to Colgan Air, the previous carrier. PenAir provides convenient and reliable service. The loss of PenAir ' s service would be devastating for our county and local economy, at a time when any recovery being experienced elsewhere in the nation has yet to reach northern Maine. We need PenAir to continue this service . For all of these reasons , Pines requests that the Department select PenAir to continue its subsidized Essential Air Service between Presque Isle and Boston. Sincerely, 

# C ~~~~ James M. Davis Chief Executive Officer

II OC . 004 721/000002 . 5500 5 96 v1