Dialysis patients frustrated with poor transportation services

ORLANDO, Fla. — Desperately needed medical transports are showing up hours late for some dialysis patients, and they said it’s causing them to miss their vital treatments.

Patients said their transportation is supposed to arrive about midnight, but it’s usually anyone’s guess if the transport vans will show up.

“They still don’t have a ride for me today,” said dialysis patient Ann Toney.

Toney said she’s locked in a life-or-death fight for transportation to and from dialysis treatments three times a week.

“My daughter brought me here today and at this moment I don’t even know how I’m going to get home tonight,” Toney said.

Initially, Lynx had the transportation contract, but the government gave it to a new company, which then subcontracted with several cab companies.

Toney said cabbies have been refusing the lower-paying medical transport calls in favor of high-dollar fares at area theme parks.

Eyewitness News found out the problem has also stranded more than a dozen other patients, one of whom had to be hospitalized.

“Not only was I stranded at home, I was left here,” said patient Vanda Washington.

Channel 9’s Mario Boone tried to reach Medical Transport Management by phone, but no one called him back.

When he went to one of the cab companies for answers, they claimed the patients’ allegations were not true.

“As far as I know we have no problems with picking up our patients,” the dispatcher said.

When Boone told the dispatcher what the patients told him, the dispatcher said, “You have to also understand that a lot of these people are spoiled.”

WFTV