New medical transport van in the works for Arrow and Slocan Lakes Community Services

New medical transport van

Photo: Unsplash

A new medical transport service is getting up and running in the West Kootenay

Arrow and Slocan Lakes Community Services is optimistic that a new medical transport van will be up and rolling in the next month.

“We are so excited. It’s such a valuable service,” Tim Payne, Executive Director of ASLCS told the Valley Voice.

Donated in 2016 by the Arrow Lakes Health Care Auxiliary, ASLCS’s 16-seat wheelchair accessible bus once travelled twice monthly to the Okanagan to bring folks to medical appointments in Vernon and Kelowna. The service was very popular and much needed, said Payne. When the bus was deemed no longer road worthy, ASLCS was in a scramble. A transportation committee formed, with all its efforts put towards trying to replace it.

Thanks to this hard work – and $25,000 from the RDCK, $25,000 from Arrow Lakes Hospital Foundation, and $50,000 from Columbia Basin Trust – ASLCS hopes to be offering transportation again very soon.

Priority for the twice-monthly service to the Okanagan will still be given to seniors and those with medical appointments, but the van will welcome others if there’s room. It will also be used for the ASLCS volunteer driver network, which takes people to other locations, such as Castlegar and Trail.

The new van will have 8-10 seats and will be a hybrid, making the journey more economical. Payne said ASLCS never quite broke even on operating costs for the previous bus, as the agency subsidizes user costs as much as possible.

“The last thing we want to do is create something that people can’t afford, so we always base everything we do on making it affordable for folks needing the service,” said Payne.

Fees for the new van are being worked out, but affordability is still top of mind.

Since volunteer drivers keep the wheels turning, Payne hopes the smaller van will be more appealing – an extra license isn’t required like it was for the previous bus.

ASLCS is always seeking more volunteer drivers. For more information, visit aslcs.com/volunteer.