Giving Campaign Benefits Patient Transportation

The statistics are startling. In the United States, approximately 3.6 million people do not obtain medical care due to transportation barriers; 4% of children miss a health care appointment each year due to unavailable transportation; and transportation is the third most commonly cited barrier to accessing health care services for the elderly.

For vulnerable populations, transportation can be unaffordable. Lack of transportation options can leave a patient in the hospital beyond a normal discharge time. If family or friends are unavailable, the coordination of a ride back to a skilled nursing facility can take hours or even days. Patients are often brought in for emergency care by EMS, but have no means of transportation back home. Until a ride is coordinated, patients will wait long periods of time in the hospital, taking up a bed and delaying the admissions of other patients to the floor. Lack of transportation can cause patients to miss appointments, delay filling prescriptions, or not seek emergency care, potentially leading to worsening health conditions.

To address these challenges, Penn Highlands Healthcare has undertaken a grassroots effort to alleviate transportation as a barrier to health care in our rural communities. By making the commitment to address transportation barriers and building partnerships with community organizations and other entities, Penn Highlands Healthcare is committed to improving transportation and healthcare access for patients and families, creating healthier communities.

You can help too. By making a gift in support of the 2025 Penn Highlands Healthcare Annual Giving Campaign, you are helping to ensure that transportation is not a barrier to health care and that no one person withholds seeking care because of limited options available.

To contribute to the Annual Giving Campaign, visit www.phhealthcare.org/giving.

Thank you for supporting your community!