Non-Emergency Medical Transportation in Silver Spring, MD

Where we take Silver Spring riders

Riderwood on Gracefield Road is a regular Silver Spring address for us. It is a campus rather than a building, with several residences and its own medical center, and trips from it range from a routine specialist visit to a skilled-nursing transfer.

Across the wider Montgomery County corridor we run regularly to Shady Grove Medical Center, and to the senior communities of Bethesda, Chevy Chase and Rockville, among them Maplewood Park Place, Brighton Gardens of Friendship Heights, Sunrise of Bethesda and Sunrise of Rockville. Across the District line, see our Washington DC page.

Closer to home, Holy Cross Hospital on Forest Glen Road and Adventist HealthCare White Oak Medical Center on Healing Way are the two hospitals most Silver Spring riders use, and we run appointments and discharges at both daily. Eastward we run into Prince George’s County — UM Capital Region Medical Center, and Kaiser Permanente’s Largo medical center and its West Hyattsville medical center, which replaced the Prince George’s center in 2022.

Much of Silver Spring’s specialist care is across the District line: MedStar Georgetown, George Washington University Hospital, Sibley Memorial and Howard University Hospital. Those trips run under WMATC authority 3449 for the District, Montgomery and Prince George’s, alongside our Virginia DMV Certificate #524 for trips into Virginia.

If your regular destination is a Silver Spring hospital or dialysis center we haven’t named here, call and tell us which one. We’ll confirm the approach before the first trip rather than on it.

Choosing the van for a Silver Spring trip

The choice follows how the rider moves on the day, not which side of the District line the appointment is on.

Ambulatory. For a rider who walks with a steadying arm. The driver meets them at the door or the lobby and walks them into Holy Cross or the clinic.

Wheelchair. The chair rolls up a ramp or onto a lift and is held at four points before the van moves; no chair at home, and we bring one. See our wheelchair transportation service.

Stretcher. For a rider who can’t sit up safely, such as a White Oak discharge to a skilled nursing bed. Two crew members move the patient bed to bed.

Bariatric. Over 300 lbs, we bring rated equipment and extra crew. These vans are fewer, so call early.

If you can’t tell which applies, describe the rider and the building to dispatch, and we’ll pick the vehicle with you before it’s sent.

For prices, pickup tips and local destinations by service, see our pages on wheelchair transportation in Silver Spring and stretcher transportation in Silver Spring.

Pickup in Silver Spring and the Montgomery corridor

Silver Spring runs from downtown high-rises to post-war single-family streets within a couple of miles, and the pickup is different in each.

Downtown high-rise and condo buildings have the same constraint as Arlington’s: a raised-roof wheelchair van does not fit in most residential garages. That isn’t a problem — we pick up at the street entrance or the loading bay instead. What we need is the building, which entrance it prefers, and whether the front desk wants a vehicle logged in before it arrives.

Riderwood and the large senior campuses need the building, not just the campus address. On a campus with several residences and its own internal road network, “Riderwood” is not an address a crew can drive to. Give us the residence name and the entrance.

Single-family homes in Takoma Park, Woodside and the older Silver Spring neighborhoods often have steps up from the sidewalk and no driveway apron. Tell us the number of steps and whether there’s a handrail — that’s the difference between one crew member and two with a stair chair.

Traffic is the scheduling problem. Getting from Silver Spring to a Virginia destination in the morning means the Beltway or the District, and neither is quick. We schedule around the corridor rather than the mileage. If your appointment is across the river in the morning peak, expect us considerably earlier than the distance suggests.

Steps change the crew. A stretcher needs room on the turn, and a rider in a wheelchair coming down outside steps needs our stair chair team, which is $75 each way. Tell us the count when you book.

Dialysis and standing orders

Three dialysis sessions a week come to more than 150 trips a year, and each one has a chair time to meet.

Tell us which center when you book. Dialysis schedules are the trips where the approach matters most — which door, how long the chair takes to come out, where the vehicle can wait — and we’d rather confirm that with the center before your first ride than work it out on the day.

We set up a standing order with the days, the times and the center, and it repeats every week. If treatment runs long, call for a will-call ride home and a driver reaches the center within 45 minutes; a call shortly before the session ends shortens the wait.

Riders often come off treatment tired or lightheaded, so the driver expects a slower walk to the van and doesn’t rush the transfer. If a rider becomes unwell, the driver stops safely and calls 911.

If your current schedule isn’t holding, call and tell us what’s going wrong; a standing order is built to fix exactly that.

Booking, coverage and payment

Silver Spring riders reach dispatch at (703) 304-7889 day and night. We ask three hours’ lead time for a same-day ride or a Holy Cross discharge, and anything booked the previous day is guaranteed, with a call or text confirming it within two hours. There’s no fee for changes made more than two hours before pickup; later changes and no-shows are $50.

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.

Private pay: a wheelchair or ambulatory round trip is $55 a leg with five miles included each way, then $3 a mile, and a stretcher round trip is $230 a leg. From downtown Silver Spring to Holy Cross Hospital, a little over two miles each way, a wheelchair round trip is $110. Our full rate card and estimator is published, and trips that cross into Virginia or the District are quoted the same way, with no surcharge for the crossing.

Questions we get from Silver Spring families

Can you take me from Silver Spring into Virginia or DC?

Yes. Trips into the District run under WMATC authority 3449, and trips into Virginia run under our Virginia DMV Certificate #524, on one booking with one vehicle and no handoff at the line.

Do you serve Riderwood?

Yes, regularly. Give us the residence building rather than just the campus address when you book — on a campus that size it makes a real difference to the pickup time.

How does Medicaid work in Maryland?

H&M Transport is not a Medicaid provider in Maryland. In Montgomery County, Medicaid rides are arranged through the county Department of Transportation’s Medical Assistance Transportation Program. In DC, the only Medicaid plan we serve is UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of the District of Columbia, through SafeRide Health.

How much notice does a Silver Spring ride need?

Three hours covers a same-day trip or a hospital discharge, and a day ahead guarantees the booking. For a cross-river trip in the morning peak, book early; the drive is longer than the map suggests.

What if the appointment runs late?

Call dispatch and we adjust. For a return leg we generally hold the slot rather than send the vehicle away. A call as soon as you know helps more than a call when you’re ready to leave.

Are you accredited?

Yes. H&M Transport was the first NEMT provider in Virginia accredited by NEMTAC, which reviews driver training, vehicle standards, securement and incident handling on every trip we run.

What we can’t take

We take Silver Spring riders to scheduled care and back. The van carries people; it doesn’t treat them.

That rules out some trips: no monitoring on board, no rides to an emergency room, and no moves between hospitals for a higher level of care. Those are ambulance trips.

If this is a medical emergency, call 911.

Unsure which you need? Call and describe what’s happening, and if it’s an ambulance, we’ll tell you.

Book a ride in Silver Spring

Silver Spring, Takoma Park, Wheaton, White Oak, Bethesda, Chevy Chase and Kensington — ambulatory, wheelchair, stretcher and bariatric, seven days a week, with Virginia and DC crossings covered on one booking.

Ring (703) 304-7889 at any hour, or use our reservations page and dispatch will call back to confirm.