The Island’s air ambulance service has officially shut down, according to the Registrar of Companies.Bermuda Air Medivac proprietor Eloise Bell confirmed that her local business was no more.“Insurance companies were using a cheaper service from the States,” she said. “But now I’m hearing that they are actually losing money on it.“Because they have to wait for the planes to get here, that wait means they have to secure a bed, and the patients are getting there later, so they’re sicker. That costs more to treat them.”Ms Bell said that poor business, as well as being charged landing and customs fees at LF Wade International Airport, had made it impossible to keep the company going.“The fees were costing more than $1,000 a trip, and we were charging $15,000 a trip. We were paying the same that Mike Bloomberg pays when he comes in with his private jet.”She insisted BAM had been set up to provide a service rather than turn a profit.With patients facing longer delays as they wait on medivac services from the US, Ms Bell said she was convinced there had been an adverse impact on health.“I know it because I work at the hospital,” she said. “I can’t prove it, but if someone’s waiting 16 hours to get sent abroad for treatment, I’m sure it’s made people sicker.”She said she had appealed to members of the One Bermuda Alliance to help the business before the last election, but hadn’t bothered contacting anyone in Government since.“Nobody has gotten back to me. If they want to talk to me, I’m still listed in the phone book. I haven’t heard anything back.”A Ministry of Health spokeswoman said the loss of business for BAM was regrettable, but that it was a private operation and not a Government concern.With BAM now officially shut down, the company’s aircraft, a Citation S2, remains in storage in the US.The jet was piloted by Ms Bell’s business partner, Sheldon Smith, who is also currently in the US due to the lack of work in Bermuda.Ms Bell said she had no plans to sell off the company’s assets.“The economy is so bad it’s better for us to store the plane, and we probably wouldn’t get much for the medical equipment.”She said a clear need remained for a Bermuda-based air ambulance.“There are certain people who are supporting us, but their hands are tied,” she said. “And I’m not going to set it back up and run it at a loss. I put a lot of work into it and I never took a management fee, and my partner never did either. None of us took anything out, to keep the costs down.”For now, she said, “I’m enjoying my retirement”.Last night, Public Safety Minister Michael Dunkley said he had been approached by Ms Bell “some time in advance of the election” about keeping the business.Mr Dunkley told The Royal Gazette: “After that conversation, I did a little research on the matter and found that there were a few providers of this type of service, and that by and large the Island was well served.”He confirmed that since the OBA took Government, there has been “no contact, and no air ambulance issue raised with either me as Minister or the Ministry”.Added Mr Dunkley: “I have sympathy for the plight of her business initiative, but as the health provider can call on a couple of providers of this service, it simply is a matter of supply and demand and the health provider is continually trying to get the best deal for every case. “