Patient shuttle service grows, remains vital link to care from Tarentum to Etna

Brad Scherf doesn’t miss a chance to help a fellow cancer survivor — or anyone else — who needs medical attention.

As coordinator of a free shuttle offered by the St. Margaret Foundation and Wesley Family Services in New Kensington, Scherf has found himself up before dawn to drive a stranger to their doctor’s appointment.

“When you are diagnosed, you don’t know what the future holds,” Scherf said. “There’s tons of anxiety.

“If we can offer this service to lower the anxiety, then we’ll do everything we can to get them to their appointments every time.”

Medical transportation between Tarentum and Etna is among services provided free through grants released Monday by the St. Margaret Foundation.

The nonprofit announced it will continue to fund four shuttles — at a total cost of more than $420,000 — to take people between doctors appointments, grocery stores and other places off Route 28.

Shuttle use continues to grow, with more than 12,000 rides a year by people who have limited resources.

To help with associated costs, a new patient crisis care endowment was founded. Organized by physicians, the endowment holds donations in perpetuity. The money in that fund is used to make sure patients in crisis don’t get shortchanged as the foundation increases the amount used for the shuttle service, said Mary Lee Gannon, foundation president.

“If we had not created the endowment, we would not be able to keep up with the patients’ critical needs, which include stair glides to the second floor to keep someone in their home as opposed to a nursing home, expensive medicine, tub benches, walkers for the second floor and other needs not covered by insurance or Medicare,” she said.

To date, $2.7 million has been raised on a $3 million endowment goal.

“The community has responded more exponentially for the patient crisis care endowment than for anything we’ve ever raised money for in the past,” Gannon said.

“Our patients tell us that illness is scary enough without the worry of getting to their treatment, or if they can get what they need to heal, stay well and remain self-sufficient in their homes.”

Her group doesn’t pay hospital or doctor costs, but it provides other programs that have slipped through the cracks of managed care.

“The board is dedicated to the organization’s motto of filling in the gaps with hope, healing and independence,” Gannon said.

Shuttles include transportation for specific needs. They are:

• Tarentum-Etna Free Rides for Seniors, which is for people 60 and older who need rides to doctors appointments. It is aimed at people in Cheswick, Springdale, Tarentum, Brackenridge, Harrison, Oakmont and Verona.

The bus stops at senior living facilities such as Amber Woods in Harmar, Rachel Carson Hall in Tarentum and Etna Commons.

Transportation is provided to and from UPMC St. Margaret hospital and affiliated offices such as the Harmar Outpatient Center and Renaissance Family Practice, along with other doctors’ offices along the route.

The shuttle is run in conjunction with North Hills Community Outreach.

“Through this vital partnership, our older adult neighbors receive reliable, accessible transportation, helping them stay connected to medical appointments, essential services and their communities,” said Scott Shaffer, NHCO executive director.

Schaffer said the support is invaluable to make a lasting difference in the lives of older adults, “ensuring they continue to live with dignity and independence.”

• Free medical shuttle for the Alle-Kiski Valley, for residents of any age to get nonemergency transportation service to and from UPMC St. Margaret hospital, UPMC primary care doctors’ offices and other UPMC diagnostic centers in Arnold, Brackenridge, East Deer, Lower Burrell, Harrison, New Kensington, West Deer and Tarentum.

The bus provides rides for a couple dozen people each week in conjunction with Wesley Family Services.

“The patients have told me that, without this shuttle, they don’t know what the future would’ve brought to them,” said Scherf, in his 10th year as an appointment-taker, driver and greeter.

“I know what the patients are going through. If you miss an appointment, it prolongs everything. Anything we can do to help them get there is our No. 1 priority.”

• Free Rides for Seniors shuttle in Sharpsburg/Aspinwall/Blawnox, for senior citizens who live along the route between Route 28 and the Allegheny River in the three communities. The bus, also in partnership with NHCO, takes people to the grocery store, The Waterworks shopping center, pharmacy or other stops along the way.

• Care management transportation gives rides from the hospital for patients returning to nursing facilities.

Shuttle funding was among more than $809,000 in grants doled out by the St. Margaret Foundation for patient access, education and experience.

• Other initiatives include $109,000 to enhance post-operative care with recliners, $20,000 for the free food pantry, $16,000 for health fair screenings, $92,000 to help under-resourced patients and $3,000 for outdoor flower gardens.

“In a flash, your health can turn into the biggest challenge of your life,” Gannon said. “The last thing we want is for you to forgo filling your prescription because you need to feed your family.”

Also new is funding for adaptive feeding equipment to help stroke victims and patients with tremors feed themselves when they leave the hospital. The program was requested by the food and nutrition department, occupational therapists, nurses and nutritionists at UPMC St. Margaret.

“A stroke or tremor that impairs hand mobility robs patients not only of nutrition but their dignity,” Gannon said.

Patients who need adapted utensils will be able to take them home.

“Our team at UPMC St. Margaret went above and beyond to put this program together for our patients, thinking down the road to what life would be like at home,” Gannon said.