Area 10 Agency on Aging is offering seniors in Monroe County a ride to health care appointments. The agency received funding for a new van from the Bloomington Health Foundation to get folks the treatment they need.
Area 10 CEO Chris Myers says the new van will help fill a much needed gap for Monroe County residents.
“They could be as simple as follow up medical appointments or rehab, which isn’t necessarily insignificant all the way to requires it for life with dialysis," Myers says.
Bloomington Health Foundation President and CEO Jon Barada says his group worked with Area 10 to deal with the problem health officials face across the country.
“The American Hospital Association reports that one of the leading causes of missed medical appointments is lack of transportation,' Barada says. It’s nearly 4 million Americans every year miss medical appointments due to limited transportation options. And that’s a real concern right here in our community.”
Barada says in addition to the van, the Health Foundation provided around $75,000 in grants to clinical providers and substance use disorder treatment facilities so they can work with patients to provide them with transportation via cab, Lift or Uber. The health foundation has asked providers to collect data from these trips so they can better target funding in the future.
