Wheelchair Transportation in Bethesda, MD

How a wheelchair ride works around the Bethesda campuses

Bethesda pickups tend to be condo buildings with a front circle, older houses in Chevy Chase or Kensington with steps up from the walk, or senior campuses like Maplewood Park Place. The driver meets the rider at the door or the unit, with a stair chair team when there are steps, and the rider stays in the wheelchair from there. The chair is wheeled up a minivan’s ramp or raised on a full-size van’s lift, strapped at four points, and the rider is belted in at the lap and shoulder.

We secure power chairs, manual chairs and scooters, and if the rider’s chair isn’t right for the trip, we bring one for free. A family member or caregiver can ride along at no extra cost, and service animals are welcome.

At Suburban Hospital or a specialist’s office on Rockville Pike, the driver brings the rider inside to the desk. NIH and Walter Reed add a gate: we plan the screening into the trip, and drivers routinely handle base access there. Our drivers are CPR and first-aid certified, trained to secure manual and power chairs, and screened with a criminal background check and drug test. They take their vans home across the region, while dispatch works from Gainesville, so the van that reaches a Bethesda door has usually come from close by. H&M Transport earned NEMTAC accreditation, the first NEMT provider in Virginia to do so; the standard checks driver training, securement and vehicles.

The Bethesda campuses we drive to

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

Riders headed to the NIH Clinical Center come in by vehicle through the West Drive Patient Entrance off West Cedar Lane, open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day; the van is inspected there and riders go through screening, so we build in the time. Across Rockville Pike, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center is on a military installation with controlled gates and a Visitor Control Center at the North Gate; tell us at booking and we arrange access ahead of the day.

Sibley Memorial Hospital, just over the District line on Loughboro Road, is a short run from Bethesda and Chevy Chase. We also run a regular schedule for residents of Maplewood Park Place on Old Georgetown Road, Sunrise of Bethesda on Battery Lane, Brighton Gardens of Friendship Heights and Sunrise at Fox Hill.

Dialysis rides in Bethesda

We run standing dialysis schedules for Bethesda, Chevy Chase and Kensington riders, including to:

• Fresenius Kidney Care, 6420 Rockledge Dr, North Bethesda
• U.S. Renal Care Bethesda, 4701 Sangamore Rd
• Fresenius Kidney Care Wheaton, 10901 Georgia Ave
• DaVita Wheaton Dialysis, 11941 Georgia Ave

We keep the chair days and times on a standing order, so there’s nothing to rebook each week. If a session at U.S. Renal Care Bethesda or Fresenius Kidney Care Wheaton runs long, the ride home turns into a will-call: a driver arrives within 45 minutes of your call, and a call shortly before the end shortens the wait.

Wheelchair transportation prices in Bethesda

Bethesda trips use the same 2026 private-pay card as everywhere else we drive: a pick-up fee for the van, the driver and the help at each end, plus mileage.

Maplewood Park Place to Suburban Hospital is under two miles, so a round trip stays inside the five miles included on each leg: $110. Chevy Chase to Sibley Memorial is about three miles each way, also $110. Coming home one way from Suburban to Kensington, about three miles, is $90 plus $9, or $99. A trip across to Inova Fairfax Hospital is about 15 miles each way: $85 a leg ($55 plus ten miles at $3.00), or $170 round trip.

Extras, each priced ahead: a stair chair team for a house with steps, $75 each way; an early pickup before 7am or a late one after 6pm, $30; a driver who stays through the appointment, $75 an hour; an added stop, $20; oxygen, $35 for every 2-liter tank, or free if the rider has a portable unit. Cash and cards are accepted (3% on cards), personal checks are not, and we provide an itemized receipt on request. See our rates page for the whole card.

Wheelchair van or MetroAccess and Call-n-Ride?

Montgomery County has good public options. MetroAccess serves Bethesda trips near Metro and bus routes, after an application and an in-person interview, with advance booking only, no same-day trips, and shared rides on which the driver stops at the building’s outside door. Call-n-Ride subsidizes taxi trips for lower-income older adults and adults with disabilities. Ride On buses have been free for everyone since June 2025 and every bus takes a wheelchair, but they run fixed routes, as does the free Bethesda Circulator downtown, which loops past the Metro and the main garages.

Book the van when those options don’t fit: a same-day ride or a discharge from Suburban, help from inside the home to the desk, an appointment that starts at a set time, a trip into DC or Virginia, or a rider who isn’t registered with any program.

Pickup tips for Bethesda homes and buildings

• Apartment and condo buildings downtown and in Friendship Heights usually have a front circle or a garage entrance. 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; a stair chair team is routine when we know ahead.
• Senior campuses such as Maplewood Park Place and Fox Hill have more than one entrance. Tell us the building and the pickup point.
• NIH and Walter Reed both screen vehicles at the gate. Tell us the destination when you book and we build the time in.

Paying for a Bethesda wheelchair ride

Medicaid. A Bethesda rider on Maryland Medicaid books covered rides through Montgomery County, not us: the county Department of Transportation runs the Medical Assistance Transportation Program, and the member’s ID card has the number. We are not a Medicaid provider in Maryland. Over the District line, our one DC Medicaid plan is UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of the District of Columbia, through SafeRide Health.

Medicare and other plans. Original Medicare won’t pay for a wheelchair van, only for an ambulance when it is medically necessary. A health plan whose ride benefit SafeRide Health administers, which includes some Medicare Advantage plans, can book us: arrange the trips through the plan and request H&M Transport.

Private pay and facilities. Families paying directly pay the published card rates, with no doctor’s order required. Hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and senior communities book on contracted rates; see our facilities page.

Lead time, notes and cancellations

A same-day ride or a discharge from Suburban needs at least three hours’ notice, and booking a day out guarantees it. Call dispatch at (703) 304-7889 for same-day trips. Within two hours of booking you’ll get a confirming call or text.

Tell us in the notes which entrance or circle to use, the building and unit, whether the trip is to NIH or Walter Reed, the appointment and how long it runs, and the step count at a house. For riders over 300 lbs, book bariatric service.

To change or cancel, let us know more than two hours before pickup and nothing is charged; after that, or for a no-show, it’s $50. Reach us by phone, at Reservations@hmtransport.com or in the app.

Wheelchair transportation in Bethesda: common questions

What does a wheelchair round trip from Maplewood Park Place to Suburban Hospital cost?

$110. Suburban is under two miles away on Old Georgetown Road, so both legs fall inside the five included miles. Past five miles, each leg adds $3.00 a mile, and one way is $90 plus $3.00 a mile.

Can you take wheelchair riders to NIH and Walter Reed?

Yes. For NIH we use the West Drive Patient Entrance off West Cedar Lane, where the van is inspected. Walter Reed sits on a military installation, so mention it at booking and we sort out gate access before the trip.

Does Maryland Medicaid pay for wheelchair rides?

No. We aren’t a Maryland Medicaid provider, so a Medicaid-covered ride from Bethesda goes through the county Department of Transportation’s Medical Assistance Transportation Program instead.

Can you take a Bethesda rider into DC or Virginia?

Yes. Rides from Bethesda into the District, or anywhere in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, fall under our WMATC authority 3449, and Virginia DMV Certificate #524 covers the Virginia end. Fares don’t change across the river.

Can you pick up a patient being discharged from Suburban Hospital?

Yes, with three hours’ notice. Give us the unit and tell us where the rider is going, home or to a facility, and whether there are steps at the other end; the driver takes them all the way inside.

Can you take a Bethesda rider to dialysis at U.S. Renal Care on Sangamore Road three days a week?

Yes. We put the chair days and times on a standing order, at Sangamore Road or any other center, so no one rebooks each week. A long session turns the ride home into a will-call: call when treatment is nearly done, and a driver reaches the center within 45 minutes; the earlier the call, the shorter the wait.

When a wheelchair van is the wrong ride

We drive riders; we don’t provide medical care. Nobody on board monitors or treats anyone, we don’t take riders to an emergency room, and transfers between hospitals for a higher level of care are ambulance trips. For an emergency, call 911. If a rider becomes unwell, the driver stops safely and calls 911. A rider who can’t sit upright for the whole journey should book stretcher transportation.

More from H&M Transport near Bethesda

Bethesda: all medical transportation · Wheelchair transportation across the DC region · Wheelchair transportation in Rockville · Wheelchair transportation in Silver Spring · Wheelchair transportation in Washington DC · Dialysis transportation