Wheelchair Transportation in Washington, DC

How a wheelchair ride works from a DC rowhouse or apartment

The van parks as close to the door as the block allows, and the driver comes the rest of the way: up the front walk of a rowhouse, or through the lobby and up to the unit in an apartment building. If there are steps, a stair chair team brings the rider down. From there the rider stays put in the wheelchair. It rolls up a ramp on our minivans or rides the hydraulic lift of a full-size van, four straps lock it to the floor, and a lap and shoulder belt goes on before the van pulls out into traffic.

We secure manual wheelchairs, power chairs and scooters, and we bring a chair at no charge if the rider’s own won’t suit the trip. One family member or caregiver rides with the rider for free, and service animals are welcome aboard.

On Irving Street, at Georgetown or at GW, the driver goes inside with the rider to the clinic desk or the unit; at a dialysis center, to the chair. Every driver is CPR and first-aid certified, trained to secure manual and power chairs, and cleared through a criminal background check and drug screening. Dispatch is in Gainesville, but the vans go home with their drivers, who live across the region, the District included, so a DC pickup usually comes from a van that started nearby. H&M Transport was Virginia’s first NEMT provider accredited by NEMTAC, whose audit covers driver training, wheelchair securement and the vehicles.

The District hospitals our riders use most

The Irving Street campus in Northwest is a regular destination in the District. MedStar Washington Hospital Center at 110 Irving Street NW has valet at the main entrance on weekdays and a 24-hour garage, and MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital, next door at 102 Irving Street, is where many of our riders go for outpatient therapy.

We also drive riders to MedStar Georgetown University Hospital on Reservoir Road, where patient drop-off is at street level in front of the Verstandig Pavilion; to George Washington University Hospital at 900 23rd Street NW; to Sibley Memorial Hospital on Loughboro Road, with patient valet at the Building B circle on weekdays; to Howard University Hospital on Georgia Avenue; and to Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center GW Health in Ward 8, which opened in April 2025 and replaced United Medical Center.

Senior communities are a steady part of the schedule too, including Knollwood on Oregon Avenue, Ingleside at Rock Creek on Military Road and Forest Hills of DC on Connecticut Avenue.

Dialysis rides in DC

DC riders are treated at centers in every quadrant, and we run standing schedules to them, including:

• Fresenius (BMA) Dupont Circle, 11 Dupont Circle NW
• Fresenius (BMA) Columbia Heights, 106 Irving St NW
• DaVita Brentwood Dialysis, 1231 Brentwood Rd NE
• Capitol Dialysis, 140 Q St NE
• DaVita Lee Street Dialysis, 5155 Lee St NE
• RAI Potomac Dialysis, 1918 14th St SE
• DaVita GWU Southeast Dialysis, 3857-A Pennsylvania Ave SE

District dialysis rides run on standing orders: we take the chair days and times once and keep them on the schedule. When treatment at Capitol Dialysis or DaVita Brentwood goes long, you or the center call for the ride home as a will-call, a driver is there within 45 minutes, and calling a little before the session ends means a shorter wait.

Wheelchair transportation prices in Washington

DC trips are priced like all of ours: a pick-up fee that covers the van, the driver and the help at both ends, and then the mileage. These are the 2026 private-pay rates.

Capitol Hill to MedStar Washington Hospital Center is about four miles, inside the five that come with each leg, so the round trip is $110. From Congress Heights the same campus is about nine miles each way: $55 plus four miles at $3.00 makes $67 a leg, or $134 for the day. A discharge from Sibley Memorial to Ingleside at Rock Creek, about four miles one way, is $90 plus $12, or $102.

What can add to a DC fare: $75 each way for a stair chair team at a rowhouse with steps; $30 for a pickup before 7am or after 6pm; $75 an hour when the driver waits through the visit; $20 for a stop on the way; and $35 per 2-liter oxygen tank, unless the rider brings a portable unit. Payment is cash or card, with 3% added for cards and no personal checks, and an itemized receipt is yours if you ask. Everything is on our rates page.

Wheelchair van or MetroAccess and Transport DC?

DC residents have public options, and for some trips they are the right choice. MetroAccess, Metro’s ADA paratransit service, requires an application and a functional assessment, is booked in advance with no same-day trips, and runs shared rides on which the driver comes no farther than the building’s outside door. DC residents registered with MetroAccess can also use Transport DC, a same-day, on-demand service for trips within the District at a flat fare, with a monthly trip limit that does not count dialysis rides.

The DC Department of Aging and Community Living runs Senior MedExpress, free rides for residents 60 and over with a certified medical condition to essential appointments such as dialysis and chemotherapy; Medicaid members are not eligible, and it requires registration.

A private wheelchair van covers what those programs are not built for: help from inside the home to the check-in desk, an exact appointment time rather than a window, a trip into Virginia or to Montgomery or Prince George’s County, a hospital discharge, or a rider who is not registered with any program.

Pickup tips for DC homes and buildings

• Rowhouses often have steps up from the sidewalk to the front door. Tell us the count and whether there is a railing; a stair chair team is routine when we know ahead.
• Apartment buildings may have a side, rear or garage entrance that suits a van better than the front door on a busy street. Give us the entrance, the unit number and anything the front desk needs.
• Hospital campuses such as Irving Street and Georgetown have several entrances. Tell us the building and the clinic, and the driver stops at the right door.
• Rush hour on the bridges and the main avenues is predictable. We build it into the pickup time.

Paying for a DC wheelchair ride

DC Medicaid. The one DC Medicaid plan we serve is UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of the District of Columbia, through SafeRide Health; members book through the plan and ask for H&M Transport by name. Members of other DC Medicaid plans use the transportation number on their ID card. We are not a Medicaid provider in Maryland.

Medicare and other plans. Original Medicare doesn’t pay for wheelchair vans; it covers ambulance trips only when they are medically necessary. Some Medicare Advantage plans include rides, and any plan whose ride benefit SafeRide Health administers, in DC, Montgomery or Prince George’s, can book us: go through the plan and request H&M Transport by name.

Private pay and facilities. Paying privately, you pay the published rates, and no doctor’s order is needed. DC hospitals, nursing facilities and senior communities can open an account and book on contracted rates; see our facilities page.

Notice, trip notes and changes

Three hours is the shortest notice we can work with for a same-day ride or a discharge, and a day’s notice guarantees the van. For anything today, call dispatch at (703) 304-7889 rather than booking online. Every trip is confirmed by call or text within two hours of booking.

The notes are where a DC pickup goes right: the entrance to use, the unit or room, any buzzer or front-desk instructions, the appointment and how long it runs, and the number of steps at the home. Riders over 300 lbs should be booked as bariatric.

Cancelling or changing more than two hours before pickup costs nothing; a later cancellation or a no-show is $50. Call, email Reservations@hmtransport.com or use our app.

Wheelchair transportation in Washington: common questions

What does a wheelchair round trip from Capitol Hill to Irving Street cost?

$110. MedStar Washington Hospital Center is about four miles from Capitol Hill, inside the five miles included on each leg. Beyond five miles each leg adds $3.00 a mile, and a one-way ride is $90 plus $3.00 a mile.

Does DC Medicaid cover wheelchair rides with H&M Transport?

Only for members of UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of the District of Columbia, who book through the plan, via SafeRide Health, and ask for H&M Transport by name. Other DC Medicaid plans arrange rides through the transportation number on the member’s ID card.

Can you take a DC rider to an appointment in Virginia or Maryland?

Yes, into Virginia and to Montgomery and Prince George’s counties in Maryland. Trips that start or end in the District, Montgomery or Prince George’s run under WMATC authority 3449, and the Virginia end runs under Virginia DMV Certificate #524. The fare is the same on either side of the river.

How is this different from MetroAccess?

MetroAccess needs certification ahead of time, books in advance and runs shared rides, with the driver going no farther than the outside door. We need no certification, can usually take a same-day ride with at least three hours’ notice, and help the rider from inside the home to the appointment.

Can you take a rider to outpatient therapy at MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital?

Yes. It sits beside MedStar Washington Hospital Center on Irving Street. Give us the therapy days and times and we can run them as a standing order, with the driver taking the rider inside to the therapy desk each visit.

Can you set up a three-day dialysis schedule at Fresenius Columbia Heights?

Yes, as a standing order: one call sets the days and chair times at Fresenius Columbia Heights, Capitol Dialysis or any other District center, and they repeat until you change them. When a session runs over, the ride home becomes a will-call with a driver there within 45 minutes of your call; calling a little before the end shortens the wait.

When to call 911 or book a stretcher

A wheelchair van is transportation, not medical care. No one on board monitors or treats the rider, we don’t drive anyone to an emergency room, and moving a patient to another hospital for a higher level of care needs an ambulance. In 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 trip should book stretcher transportation.

More from H&M Transport near Washington

Washington DC: all medical transportation · Stretcher transportation in Washington DC · Wheelchair transportation across the DC region · Wheelchair transportation in Silver Spring · Wheelchair transportation in Arlington · Dialysis transportation