Uber/Porterville TransPORT now available for SVMC Patients
Bridge Services
SVMC now has the ability to assist patients with transportation through Uber and Porterville Transit to provide Uber TransPORT rides. These rides are scheduled through Uber and provided by the Porterville TransPORT vans for $5.00 throughout the City of Porterville and out to Strathmore. Our goal is to ensure that those who have difficulty obtaining transportation do not delay discharges waiting for transportation. As we all know, the taxi and medical transport systems can be inconsistent and this provides rides in a more timely fashion.
When our staff schedules the ride through Uber, Sierra View Medical Center is paying for that $5.00 ride. Our hope would be that we could assist patients in obtaining their own Uber rides through the Uber App on their cell phone. This collaborative program with Uber and Porterville Transit is one of the first of its kind and Porterville TransPORT can be used by anyone at any time for that same $5.00 per ride. But we realize that there will be those patients who don’t have smart phones, or don’t have the financial means to pay for the Uber through the app. These are the patients we would like to assist by scheduling a ride for them. You can arrange for the patient and a guest to ride, but no more than 2 can be arranged for. If there are multiple family members, they will need to arrange their own transportation. Also, the TransPORT vans are ADA compliant, but they are not equipped for patients that have more “ambulance” type needs.
How it Works:
The rides will be arranged through Care Integration and Bridge Services with House Supervisor staff after hours. One big point to mention, these are on demand rides. They cannot be scheduled in advance. So when you ask to schedule a ride, your patient must be ready to leave the facility. The TransPORT vans will not wait for patients to be discharged.
