BANGOR – The Eastern Maine Transportation Collaborative recently received a $35,969 award to study the transportation needs of chronically ill patients 65 years and older in Penobscot, Washington and Hancock counties. The award, in the form of a grant from the Maine Health Access Foundation, was made to Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems on behalf of the EMTC.

“Lack of transportation to and from the clinic or hospital often keeps the elderly from accessing health care,” said Jamie Comstock of United Way of Eastern Maine, an EMTC representative. “Especially when an older person has a chronic disease such as cancer or diabetes, they need frequent visits to health care providers. Unfortunately, just getting there is often a great challenge for our older populations, which in turn means they aren’t getting the disease management they need.”

Patients relying on community transportation can only access health services during a limited time frame, and healthcare schedulers routinely struggle to match community transportation availability with appointment availability.

Community transportation providers are strained by how often rides must be provided, and by the fact that more than 60 percent of their rides are provided by volunteer drivers using their own vehicles. Public buses, taxi service and other transportation options are not available in much of Washington, Hancock and Penobscot counties.

Dr. Lenard W. Kaye, director of the University of Maine Center on Aging, said, “Without fail, the difficulties associated with getting from one place to another rank among the major worries voiced by elders in Maine and in other rural parts of the nation.”

The grant will allow the EMTC to assess the transportation experiences, challenges and needs of chronically ill patients 65 years and older in the three-county region. The EMTC will develop specific recommendations and programs to ensure the best possible community transportation system in Eastern Maine, with the goal of helping people access services and opportunities that fit their needs and lifestyles.

Final results of the planning grant will include mapping patients’ locations relative to the health care services they need, defining protocols for health care and transportation schedulers to proactively work with patients to improve access to health services, and developing a regional transportation resource database accessible via phone and Web for transportation provider and users.

Agencies represented in the collaborative include Alpha One, BAT CC, Blue Hill Memorial Hospital, Bucksport Community Health Advisory Committee, Community Connections, Downeast Transportation, Eastern Agency on Aging, Eastern Maine Development Corporation, Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems, EMMC Family Practice Center, EMMC Dialysis Unit, Island Connections, Maine Department of Transportation, Maine Health Alliance, MDI Hospital, Millinocket Regional Hospital, Mount Desert Island Hospital, My Friends Place, Penobscot Community Health Center, Penobscot Valley Hospital, Penquis CAP, St. Joseph Healthcare, University of Maine Center on Aging, University of Maine Cooperative Extension Senior Companion Program, United Way of Eastern Maine, and Washington Hancock Community Agency.