Non-Emergency Medical Transportation in Bethesda, MD

Where we take Bethesda riders

Suburban Hospital, at 8600 Old Georgetown Road, is the community hospital for most of our Bethesda riders. Its garage is entered from Old Georgetown Road and the hospital does not validate parking, so a door-to-door drop-off at the main entrance saves families both the fee and the walk.

The NIH Clinical Center has its own procedure for patients arriving by vehicle: they enter at the West Drive Patient Entrance off West Cedar Lane, open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, where the vehicle is inspected and riders pass through screening. We allow time for it in the pickup. Across Rockville Pike, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center sits on Naval Support Activity Bethesda, a military installation with controlled gates and a Visitor Control Center at the North Gate. Tell us it is Walter Reed when you book so we can plan the access ahead of the trip.

Just over the District line, Sibley Memorial Hospital on Loughboro Road is a short run from Bethesda and Chevy Chase. We also run a steady schedule for residents of Maplewood Park Place, Sunrise of Bethesda, Brighton Gardens of Friendship Heights and Sunrise at Fox Hill, and to and from Montcare Bethesda, Sterling Care Bethesda, Carriage Hill Bethesda and Autumn Lake Healthcare at Chevy Chase.

Which ride a Bethesda trip needs

We choose by how the rider moves that day, whether the trip is to Suburban or across the District line.

Ambulatory. A rider who walks with a steady arm rides in the same vans as everyone else. The driver helps at the door and at the destination, and stairs the rider can manage with that help cost nothing extra.

Wheelchair. The chair rolls up a ramp or onto a lift and is held at four points before we pull away, and we bring a chair if the rider has none. Local prices are on wheelchair transportation in Bethesda.

Stretcher. For a rider who must ride flat, often after surgery at Suburban or on discharge to Montcare or Carriage Hill. Two crew members move the patient bed to bed; see our stretcher transportation service.

Bariatric. For riders over 300 lbs, with wider ramps, roomier vehicles and a second crew member when the transfer calls for it. These vans are fewer, so call early.

Not sure which fits? Tell dispatch how the rider gets from bed to door, and we’ll pick the vehicle together before it’s sent.

Pickup in Bethesda and Chevy Chase

Downtown Bethesda and Friendship Heights are apartment and condo buildings, many with a garage or a circle at the front; give us the entrance and the unit number and we meet the rider there. Older houses in Chevy Chase and Kensington often have steps up from the walk. Tell us the count, and if a rider in a wheelchair has to come down steps we send a stair chair team, which adds $75 each way.

Senior communities with several buildings, such as Maplewood Park Place or the Fox Hill campus, need the building and the pickup point. Bethesda sits just inside the Capital Beltway near the I-270 spur, and we build the rush hour on Wisconsin Avenue and Rockville Pike into the pickup time.

Dialysis and standing orders

We run standing dialysis schedules for Bethesda riders to Fresenius Kidney Care on Rockledge Drive in North Bethesda and U.S. Renal Care Bethesda on Sangamore Road, and for Kensington riders to Fresenius Kidney Care Wheaton and DaVita Wheaton on Georgia Avenue.

Give us the center and chair times once and the three-day schedule stays booked. When treatment runs over, call for a will-call return and a driver reaches the center within 45 minutes; calling a little before the session ends cuts the wait. The same drivers tend to see the same riders. See dialysis transportation for details.

Booking, coverage and payment

Dispatch answers (703) 304-7889 day and night, or you can request a trip online. Same-day trips and discharges need three hours’ notice, a day ahead guarantees the booking, and we confirm by call or text within two hours. There’s no charge for changes more than two hours before pickup; later changes and no-shows are $50.

Rates. Seated and wheelchair round trips are $55 per leg, five miles each way included, then $3 a mile; stretcher round trips are $230 per leg. From Bethesda Row to Suburban Hospital, under two miles each way, a wheelchair round trip is $110. We quote before you book, and the full card is on our rates page.

Maryland and DC Medicaid. H&M Transport is not a Medicaid provider in Maryland, so we cannot take Medicaid-covered rides in Montgomery or Prince George’s counties. In Montgomery County, Medicaid transportation is arranged through the county Department of Transportation’s Medical Assistance Transportation Program; start there or with the number on the member’s ID card. In Washington DC, the only Medicaid plan we serve is UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of the District of Columbia, through SafeRide Health. Outside Medicaid, a health plan whose ride benefit SafeRide Health administers can book us in Montgomery, Prince George’s and DC: go through the plan and request H&M Transport by name.

Medicare, private pay and facilities. Original Medicare doesn’t cover these vans; if your Medicare Advantage plan’s ride benefit runs through SafeRide Health, ask the plan for H&M Transport by name. Families pay the rate card, and hospitals, nursing homes and senior communities use contracted rates through our facilities program.

Questions we get from Bethesda families

Can you take me from Bethesda into DC or Virginia?

Yes. District trips run under WMATC authority 3449, and the Virginia end runs under our Virginia DMV Certificate #524, on one booking.

Can you take patients to NIH and Walter Reed?

Yes. At NIH, patient vehicles enter at the West Drive Patient Entrance off West Cedar Lane and are inspected. Walter Reed is on a military installation with controlled gates, so tell us when you book and we plan the access in advance.

How does Medicaid work in Maryland?

H&M Transport is not a Medicaid provider in Maryland. In Montgomery County, Medicaid transportation is arranged through the county Department of Transportation’s Medical Assistance Transportation Program.

How much notice does a Bethesda ride need?

Three hours is enough for a same-day trip or a discharge, and booking the day before guarantees it. Regular dialysis riders can use a standing order.

What if a Bethesda appointment runs long?

Tell us the expected length when you book. We can schedule prescheduled wait time, or you call dispatch when the rider is ready and we send the van back.

Are you accredited?

Yes. H&M Transport was the first NEMT provider in Virginia accredited by NEMTAC, which reviews driver training, wheelchair securement and vehicle standards.

What we can’t take

Our vans take Bethesda riders to scheduled care and back. There’s no medical care or monitoring on board, no ride to an emergency room, and no transfer between hospitals for a higher level of care; those are ambulance trips. Stable, scheduled moves, such as Suburban to a rehab center, we run. If a rider becomes unwell, the driver stops safely and calls 911. If this is a medical emergency, call 911.

Bethesda vans start nearby

Calls are answered in Gainesville, but drivers take the vans home, and they live across the service area, Montgomery County included. The van at a Bethesda door has usually started its day close by.

That keeps same-day waits shorter than the map implies, and it lets a standing order keep the same driver, who learns the building, the garage and the entrance.

Related pages

Wheelchair transportation in Bethesda · Stretcher transportation · Rockville · Silver Spring · Washington DC · Hospital discharge · Dialysis transportation