Since 2021 Riverside Health Care has offered patients without other means of transport, the opportunity to avail of its Medically Stable Patient Transport (MSPT) service.
David Black is the Director of Community Services for Riverside Health Care he says that the organization acknowledges the difficulties that some Rainy River District residents have in getting to appointments in Fort Frances when the hospital services such a wide area.
“We know that transportation throughout the Rainy River District can be difficult with the lack of public transportation, and taxi service that is limited to only a couple of communities,” Black said. “We hear stories about people who had to cancel medical appointments due to not having reliable transportation and see people who were discharged from hospital but not able to secure an affordable and/or accessible ride home. The MSPT service is available for anyone who does not have a reliable (or accommodated ride, if required), to and from medical or social wellness appointments or home from hospital post-discharge.”
The MSPT program is available to Riverside patients across the District primarily to appointments within the District. It should be noted that the program is for stable patients, and in an emergency or unstable should be looking for ambulance service.
“MSPT is intended for residents of the Rainy River District to travel to medical and social services appointments within the Rainy River District,” Black said. “At times, we have honoured requests to take people beyond District borders but in doing so, we reduce the availability for additional trips within the primary service area due to the extended period of time it takes to travel to tertiary care centres in other locations like Thunder Bay or Winnipeg. We do recognize the need for transportation outside of the Rainy River District and are hoping to launch a Speciality and Diagnostic shuttle service soon that will assist people who require accessible, reliable and affordable transportation to attend to medical and social services appointments beyond District borders. There will be more to come on the Speciality and Diagnostic transportation solution soon.”
While the MSPT program is partially funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health, there are fees associated with the service. For example, someone looking to travel from Stratton to Fort Frances for a medical appointment would be charged $15 for a one-way trip, Atikokan to Fort Frances is $25, any trips less than 10km are $5 each way. There are set rates for different communities across the District, the fee is only charged to the patient in need of transport but each patient is entitled to one caregiver or escort to accompany them on their trip as well. Payment is required at the time of pickup.
“MSPT is an adjunct to municipal transportation programs such as the HandiVan in Fort Frances and Atikokan,” Black said. “Collaborations with Gizhewaadiziwin Health Access Centre and other district transportation services continue to integrate and develop as the need for safe, affordable, and accessible transportation increases.”
The use of the service has been growing.
“From April 1, 2024 to Sept. 30, which is the last period we have numbers for, we did 687 trips,” Black said. “For the fiscal year, 2023-24 for the entire year, we did 1010 so we’re on pace to go up by probably 25 per cent over this fiscal overlap.”
The feedback from patients availing of the service has been largely positive.
“We do have a quality initiative that records user feedback experience surveys, and every survey we’ve received has been an excellent rating with the medically stable patient transport program,” Black said. “The main comment we received from the public or from the users, is that they wish the service could be expanded so that there was more availability. But people do like the reliability of the service and the cost, or, the affordability of the service, and the fact that it can accommodate a wheelchair, a walker, or even a stretcher.”
Black says that if you think you might need transportation to an appointment, as soon as you know the date and time of the appointment you should call and book the shuttle as it runs on a first come, first served basis and as there’s only one accessible vehicle availability is limited at times. To book or for rate information, you can call 807-271-0650 between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. seven days a week.
The hope is, as funding allows, to grow the program to more than one vehicle and to add an additional program that can take multiple patients to appointments further afield like Thunder Bay but that program isn’t up and running just yet.
–Submitted photo.
