Representatives from Valkyrie UAS Solutions and Mid-America Transplant, in partnership with Missouri S&T, hosted a ribbon-cutting event on April 1 to commemorate the nation’s first health care drone corridor.

The event was held at S&T’s General Services Building in Rolla, near land that will serve as Valkyrie’s hub for transporting tissue and blood samples and other health care supplies via drone between St. Louis and Springfield, Missouri.

“With transplant cases, speed is critical,” says Ty Harmon, Valkyrie CEO. “But the current system that relies on ground transportation and chartering small aircraft takes time and can be expensive. Our solution can get critical materials where they need to go faster and at a significantly reduced cost.”

Harmon says the drones will operate with human oversight but follow preprogrammed flight paths. They can carry up to 12 pounds of cargo and fly more than 100 miles on a single charge.

Dr. Mo Dehghani, chancellor of Missouri S&T, welcomed Valkyrie to the area and spoke about rural health care challenges. Additional speakers included Tara Peters, state representative for District 122 in Missouri; Keith Riesberg, city administrator for Rolla; and Lori Worthington, executive director of Joplin Regional Alliance for Health Care and Health Services.