BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — Maybe you're not well enough to drive, or maybe you're on a fixed income. There are several reasons why doctor’s appointments can be hard to get to.
Rides 2 Wellness is an effort to break down transportation barriers. Lending rides to those with various medical conditions. The goal is to keep them from being re-admitted to the hospital.
“If they didn’t get the transportation they they’d end up back in the ER, or the hospital or dead,“ said March McKinlay, a driver with Ride 2 Wellness.
McKinlay, with her company Ramp It Up, average 80 rides a day. Picking up and dropping off people like Raymond Delahunt, who isn’t strong enough to drive himself to doctor’s appointments.
“My daughter couldn’t take me here. My wife can’t drive so we’re doing what we can,” Delahunt said.
About a year ago, Ray was in the emergency room for pneumonia. Now he’s on cord 24 hours a day. Going to therapy at St. Luke's is the only exercise he gets during the week.
“My body gets to do some exercise which helps my lungs. Otherwise without the rides nobody goes here sometimes if they’re old enough and can’t get a ride,” Delahunt said.
Without this program, Sharon Reitc admits she wouldn’t be as dedicated to her recovery.
“No, because I wouldn’t be able to afford it. It would be too expensive.”
After suffering a heart attack over a year ago, she needs rides to therapy and various appointments she can’t access by walking.
“There’s a lot of seniors that don’t have transportation to get to their places and they have to inconvenience their friends and family or take a cab,“ Reitc said.
She explains, that’s not cheap.
Valley Regional Transit in partnership with hospitals like St. Luke’s and Saint Alphonsus have gathered the funds to provide over 18,000 rides since 2016. All free of charge.
“What we found as we were designing this solution is there’s lots of complications in terms of maybe multiple conditions people have that prevent them from really being able to use more traditional transportation services,” said Kelli Badesheim, executive director for Valley Regional Transit.
Right now, Rides 2 wellness is offered to patients in Boise, Meridian and Eagle. Next, Valley Regional Transit is looking to expand their services to Canyon County.
Though the service is free of charge for patients, the program is funded by Valley Regional Transit and participating hospitals to engage matching funds from the Federal Transit Administration.
To qualify for Rides 2 Wellness, you must have appointments at participating clinics. For more information on Rides 2 Wellness, click here.
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