BY GAIL NEUMANN
SALT SPRING SENIORS SERVICES SOCIETY
The Seniors Services Society is dedicated to helping local seniors get to medical appointments and hospital procedures both on and off the island. We serve seniors who are unable to arrange their own transportation.
Our rides team members are caring, dedicated and use their own vehicles to get people to their appointments on time. It may not be within their power to get a passenger there on time without enough notice. But they will try.
One recent morning at 8:30 a.m., Island Health notified our rides service that an islander needed a ride to the cancer clinic in Victoria for 1 p.m. that same day. Our office doesn’t open until 10 a.m. and the only remaining ferry that connected Salt Spring Island to Vancouver Island in time for the appointment was scheduled to leave at 11:30 a.m.
When she opened the office, rides desk volunteer Lisa Dahling checked the messages. It seemed like an impossible request.
But she immediately started phoning our volunteer drivers. Fortunately she found one, Alistair Sim, who was home and answered the phone. He just happened to be free to go that morning. With superhuman speed he got ready and then drove to the passenger’s home, picked them up and then hurried to the ferry. It was almost a miracle but they made it. And they were the last car on the ferry!
We are so appreciative of our driver’s dedication and kindness to get this passenger to the cancer clinic, on time, at a moment’s notice.
We could not possibly guarantee it would ever happen again without appropriate notice. Completing this ride successfully was nothing short of a miracle.
The Seniors Services Society urges seniors who need the medical rides service to call as soon as they have an appointment; whether it is local, or off island, to Victoria, Sidney, Saanich, Duncan or Nanaimo. It often takes many phone calls and quite a bit of time for our office to match a driver to an appointment. We prefer to have at least two business days’ notice to organize a ride.
Since off-island trips require taking the ferry, sometimes the driver has to leave home a couple of hours before the sailing to get to the passenger’s house to pick them up, then back to the ferry terminal early enough to be sure to catch the sailing. And the road work this year compounded the problem.
The medical rides service is free to senior islanders. We do encourage our passengers to become society members for only $10 per year. But, for some trips the passenger must either pay the ferry fare or provide a completed provincial government pink Transportation Assistance Program form, available from their doctor, to cover the cost of ferry fare.
A roster includes some 30 volunteers who have signed up to drive for us. They receive a small reimbursement for their expenses but do not accept tips. However, donations to the Seniors Services Society are gratefully accepted.
We are constantly recruiting new drivers and refining their service to make it more accommodating and efficient for island seniors.
To book a ride, contact the Island Health 24-hour call centre, 1-844-940-6617. For other inquiries or to ask about becoming a driver, call 250-537-4635.
Special requirements such as bringing a companion or accommodating a wheelchair must be requested when the appointment is booked, so a vehicle will be selected that can meet the client’s requirements.
The passenger can expect the driver to call a couple of days in advance of their appointment to confirm the date and time of pickup.
The driver will arrive at the arranged time. They will hold open the vehicle door and assist the passenger to get in and out, if necessary, and they will conduct the trip with respect, safety and courtesy.
We expect our clients to be ready to leave at the pre-arranged time. If they require help with preparation, they will need to arrange, on their own, for a caregiver to help them be at the door, ready and waiting for their ride.
Our drivers are not obligated to help passengers get up and dressed, or to wait, and they may leave at their own discretion, particularly if they deem it impossible to catch the ferry or keep the scheduled appointment. A third instance of unpreparedness by the passenger will result in them being ineligible for future trips.
The society provides rides for any appointment that is eligible as a medical expense for income tax purposes. This could include but is not limited to hospital procedures, physician, dental, physiotherapy, chiropractic or other para-medical appointments or treatments.
This is a popular and highly regarded service. It works well because of the goodwill and commitment of our team. Our office staff, our drivers and the islanders who are our passengers all work together to make it a success.
Sometimes seniors feel that just knowing they can call us for a ride when no one else is available is a miracle in itself.
The Best Is Yet To Come is a column written by Gail Neumann to highlight happenings at the Salt Spring Seniors Centre. Learn more about the non-profit society at saltspringseniorscentre.ca or drop by the centre at 379 Lower Ganges Rd., across from Country Grocer.