Mobility and Accesibility

With the nearest large hospital two hours away by road, many patients and residents were getting stranded after their appointments - the EMS ambulance cannot wait for them. Overtime wages for nurse-escorts and $300 taxi fares were not sustainable. We purchased and retrofitted a van, and built a pool of paid volunteer drivers, with the result that residents of Chapleau have much better access to out-of-town care.

As outdoor use of mobility scooters increases, storage space and cleanliness becomes a serious problem inside our small facility. Rather than ban the inside use of large scooters, we built a small garage just outside the front door.

Non-urgent patient transfers are done by volunteer drivers, themselves often of retirement age. Even with a stretcher-accessible van, lifting a patient on a cot is not possible for one person. We raised donations for a powered cot that one person can operate safely, thereby expanding the number of people who can use our transfer service.