Finding transportation assistance for seniors with disabilities

Who can you call when a wheelchair bound senior needs a ride to their medical appointment and you as the caregiver are no longer able to lift them in and out of the car?  Or the senior can’t drive themselves to any place (like a senior center to get meals, or the grocery store, hair salon and so on) and transportation assistance is needed?

It’s fairly easy to a call taxi when the person isn’t wheelchair bound and is fairly ambulatory. But when the senior needs more assistance, where do you look?

As so true to form when helping a senior client this week, we encountered this “new” issue for us. Mom was in an assisted living center near her doctor that had a nice van which took her to appointments. The family decided to move her to a residential care facility (a home that can handle up to 6 residents) that was no longer near her doctor. The excellent doctor was treating her for a rare form of dementia so the family wants to continue to use him. The daughter, in her late 40’s, has time to take Mom to appointments but is unable to lift her in and out of the car any longer. She wondered if there was a somewhat affordable (and safe) transportation option so she didn’t hurt herself , thus needing to go to her own doctor.

This of course isn’t a new issue in general, but as any of us know who help those who are aging, every day seems to bring something new we didn’t think of or don’t have a resource for. We didn’t for this one. I checked our local Council on Aging office and I was surprised to find only one  local agency even though we live in Orange County, a large metropolitan area of Southern California. I had to use Google several times for resources because I didn’t even know what to search on.

I finally found the right term, so use this when you need it to save time:     Non-Emergency Medical Transportation Services.

In a nutshell, here are the fairly limited options I found:

  • In our area, the local government-funded bus service offers a special door-to-door service that is very reasonably priced for those with disabilities. They have a small bus with a wheelchair lift. You need to be prepared to give a large window of time though to get to and from your appointment and they only go so far.
  • Some cities and senior centers also had special programs for residents in their area.
  • Your residential care facility (board & care) may also let one of their caregivers drive the senior to the appointment – for an extra charge of course. You can meet them there so you can listen to the doctor. Hopefully this will save you a trip to the chiropractor for your back!
  • Then there are for-fee transport services that are specifically designed to assist in this area. Some very cursory research said this would cost $60 for a 40-mile trip. I expected to see more options.

For our Orange County readers, here are the specific resources I found. NOTE – We can’t vouch for any of them! When we use one, we’ll let you know what we think. Until then, do your homework.

  • OCTA (OC Transportation Authority) ACCESS Program 877-628-2232 (Eligibility Help Desk 714-560-5956)
  • Age Well Senior Services (must reside in South OC, be over 60 and not qualify for OCTA Access)  949-855-9766
  • B&B Medical Transport 866-483-0024
  • Caramedix 714-569-0441
  • City of San Juan Capistrano (can’t be be an OCTA Access client, must reside in OC, max trip 15 mi one-way)  800-510-2020
  • Memorial Medical Transport 866-409-5549
  • TLC Medical Transport 949-830-7433
  • US Transcare 949-340-6770
  • City of Anaheim Senior Wheels (Anaheim residents only)  714-535-7171
  • Brea Express (Brea residents only)  800-581-7433
  • Costa Mesa Senior Center (Costa Mesa residents only)  949-645-2356
  • Fish of Fullerton (Fullerton residents only, not wheel chair accessible)  714-533-3113
  • Korean American Seniors Association (some North/Central OC cities)  714-530-6705
  • Huntington Beach Senior Outreach Center  714-960-2478
  • Tailored Residential Irvine Paratransit Service (TRIPS) (Irvine residents only)  949-724-7433
  • La Habra Shuttle (La Habra residents only)  866-557-7433
  • Sally’s Fund (Laguna Beach residents)  949-499-4100
  • City of Laguna Woods (Laguna Woods residents only)  949-639-0512
  • Dial-A-Ride (Lake Forest residents only)  949-461-3450
  • City of Mission Viejo Senior Dial-A-Taxi (cannot be OCTA ACCESS qualified, other qualifications)  949-470-3061

If you know of any other programs, please be sure to share for the good of others in Orange County by adding a comment below!

Creative Commons Licensephoto credit: jinxmcc

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