Non-Emergency Medical Transportation in Alexandria, VA

Where we take Alexandria riders

Inova Alexandria Hospital on Seminary Road is the anchor — appointments all week and discharges most days. Inova Mount Vernon Hospital covers the southern end of the city and the Route 1 corridor below it, and for a lot of Huntington and Rose Hill riders it’s the shorter run.

Kaiser Permanente’s Alexandria medical center in Potomac Yard carries a high volume of routine specialist and follow-up visits — the trips most likely to become a standing booking. The Inova HealthPlex at Franconia-Springfield takes outpatient surgery, imaging and therapy appointments on the western edge.

For riders on the Fort Belvoir side we run to Fort Belvoir Community Hospital, which is on the installation: riders with a Defense Department ID go straight in, and anyone without one needs a sponsored pass arranged in advance, so tell us when you book. Northern Alexandria riders often go to VHC Health in Arlington instead, and we run that daily.

We also cross the river. Alexandria sits close enough to the District that Georgetown, GW, Sibley and Howard come up all the time, and those trips run under WMATC authority 3449 for DC alongside our Virginia DMV Certificate #524 for the Virginia end.

Old Town pickup — the narrow-street problem

Old Town pickups need a little planning, and the families who live there already know why.

There is usually no driveway. The vehicle parks on the street, which means permit parking, which means a wheelchair van occupying a residential space for the length of a transfer. We do this every week and we know which blocks are workable. What we need from you is the nearest cross street and any warning about a block that’s under construction or has been permit-restricted recently.

The streets are narrow and some are still cobbled. A ramp needs level ground to deploy safely. Cobblestone and a crowned street are not level ground. Sometimes the right answer is to bring the vehicle to the corner and cover the last twenty yards on foot with the rider in their chair — which is fine, and which the crew will plan for if they know the address in advance.

The houses have stoops. Three or four steps up from the sidewalk to the front door, no handrail on one side, and a narrow turn at the top. For an ambulatory rider that’s an assisted walk. For a wheelchair rider it means a stair chair and two crew. For a stretcher it means planning the turn before anybody is on the stretcher. Tell us how many steps when you book — not “a few”, the actual number if you can.

Row houses share walls and sometimes entrances. If the unit is a basement apartment with its own below-grade door, or the entrance is through a shared vestibule, say so.

None of this makes Old Town impossible. It makes it a trip that needs five minutes of planning before the vehicle is dispatched rather than five minutes of improvising at the curb.

Which ride an Alexandria trip needs

The vehicle follows how the rider moves on the day, not how many miles the appointment is.

Ambulatory. A rider who walks, with a cane or an arm to lean on, rides with us too. The driver meets them at the door and walks them into Kaiser Potomac Yard or the clinic.

Wheelchair. The rider stays seated in their own chair, or one we bring, rolled up a minivan ramp or onto a full-size van lift and strapped at four points before we pull away. See our wheelchair transportation service.

Stretcher. For a patient who can’t sit up safely, such as a discharge from Inova Alexandria to a skilled nursing bed. Two crew members handle the trip, one at each end of the stretcher.

Bariatric. Over 300 lbs, we bring equipment rated for the weight and extra crew. There are fewer of these vans, so call as early as you can.

If you can’t tell which fits, describe the rider to dispatch, including how they manage the stoop, and we’ll choose the vehicle together before anything is sent.

Prices and Alexandria pickup notes by service are on our pages for wheelchair transportation in Alexandria and stretcher transportation in Alexandria.

Dialysis and standing orders

A rider on a three-day dialysis schedule makes more than 150 trips a year with us, so a missed pickup costs a treatment, not just an afternoon.

In and around Alexandria we run to DaVita Alexandria Dialysis and the Alexandria Kidney Center on Duke Street, NOVA Dialysis Woodbine on King Street and DaVita Franconia Dialysis in Kingstowne, and for riders on the southern end, Fresenius Kidney Care Fort Belvoir, which is off post on Sacramento Drive. Most patients on those schedules ride three days a week.

Give us the center, the chair days and the times once, and the standing order runs every week without rebooking. If a session runs long, call for the ride home as a will-call and a driver reaches the center within 45 minutes; a call a little before the session ends shortens the wait.

Riders often come off the machine tired or lightheaded, so on the ride home the driver plans a slower walk from the center door and gives the transfer the time it needs.

Booking, coverage and payment

Dispatch is reachable at (703) 304-7889 through the night and on weekends, and online booking works too. For an Alexandria appointment, three hours’ notice is our floor for same-day trips and discharges, while anything booked the day before is guaranteed; expect a confirming call or text within two hours. Moving or cancelling costs nothing more than two hours before pickup, and $50 after that or for a no-show.

Virginia Medicaid. Alexandria members heading to covered care, whether that is dialysis on Duke Street or a follow-up at Inova Alexandria, owe nothing for the trip, and it starts with Medicaid, not with a call to our dispatch. Call the transportation number on your Medicaid ID card; the brokers we work with are MTM Health and SafeRide Health. Request H&M Transport specifically when you book your ride. See our Virginia Medicaid transportation guide.

Prices. Private-pay families see the price before booking. A seated or wheelchair round trip costs $55 per leg, five miles each way included and $3 for each mile past that; a stretcher round trip is $230 per leg. From an Old Town row house to Inova Alexandria on Seminary Road, under five miles each way, a wheelchair round trip is $110. Original Medicare doesn’t pay for these vans, but a Medicare Advantage plan whose ride benefit runs through MTM Health or SafeRide Health can send the trip to us. Every rate is on our rates page.

Facilities in Alexandria — Inova Alexandria’s discharge planners, Goodwin House, the skilled nursing and rehab centers, the assisted living communities in Old Town and along Seminary Road — can set up an account with us and book without quoting each trip individually.

Questions we get from Alexandria families

Can you actually get a wheelchair van down my street in Old Town?

Usually, and where the street won’t take the van, we park at the corner and cover the last stretch on foot with the rider in their chair. Give us the address and the nearest cross street when you book so the crew plans the approach ahead of time.

My mother’s house has four steps and no ramp. Is that a problem?

No, but it changes the crew. Steps mean our stair chair team, two people instead of one, at $75 each way. Tell us how many steps there are and whether there’s a handrail.

Can an Alexandria rider go to a DC hospital?

Yes, and from Alexandria it’s a short run. District trips run under WMATC authority 3449, with Virginia DMV Certificate #524 covering the Virginia side, and it is priced like any other trip.

How does Beltway timing affect my pickup?

We schedule around it rather than hope. A morning appointment north of the river from an Alexandria pickup means leaving earlier than the mileage suggests. If your appointment is in the morning peak, expect us earlier than you’d expect.

Will Medicaid pay for an Alexandria ride?

It does when the appointment is covered care, from a Kaiser Potomac Yard visit to treatment at NOVA Dialysis Woodbine, and there is no charge to the member. The request goes through Medicaid first. Call the transportation number on your Medicaid ID card; the brokers we work with are MTM Health and SafeRide Health. Request H&M Transport specifically when you book your ride.

Are you accredited?

Yes. H&M Transport was Virginia’s first NEMTAC-accredited NEMT provider; the accreditation reviews how drivers are trained, how vehicles are kept, how a chair is secured and how incidents are handled.

What we can’t take

Our vans take Alexandria riders to scheduled care and home again. There is no treatment on board.

That rules some trips out. We don’t monitor patients on the way, we don’t drive anyone to an emergency room, and we don’t move a patient to another hospital for a higher level of care; an ambulance does those. Scheduled moves for stable patients, such as Inova Alexandria to a rehab bed, we do run. If a rider becomes unwell, the driver stops safely and calls 911.

If this is a medical emergency, call 911.

If you’re unsure, call and tell us what’s going on. When it’s an ambulance trip, we’ll say so.

Book a ride in Alexandria

Alexandria, Old Town, Del Ray, Franconia, Kingstowne, Huntington and Rose Hill — ambulatory, wheelchair, stretcher and bariatric, seven days a week.

Ring (703) 304-7889 whenever it suits you; someone answers. Prefer to type it out? Fill in our reservations page and a dispatcher calls back with the details.