St. Anthony Park Area Seniors (SAPAS) Transportation Team Protocol

1. Are you experiencing a life-threatening emergency? • Call 911.

  1. Are you in need of quick transportation (less than one week’s notice) for a non life- threatening medical situation?

    • Check with your family or friends to see if they can help. Name ____________________ # ____________________ Name ____________________ # ____________________

    • SAPAS does keep a list of people who can drive for a fee. Please let us know if you are interested in calling someone to drive you for a fee.

  2. Are you going to a medical appointment that you would appreciate having a family member accompany you on?

• Contact your family member
Name ___________________ # _____________________ Name ___________________ # _____________________

4. Do you have a medical appointment or a request to attend a SAPAS activity or event that is at least 7 days away, one full week?

Key Information:

  • In order to get a ride you need to be a registered SAPAS participant and have had an initial visit from the Program Director and have completed a SAPAS Participant Application.
  • Seniors need to be able to transfer into a vehicle without any assistance.
  • We will provide a maximum of two health-related roundtrip rides per week, not to exceed six health-related roundtrip rides per month.  In addition, we will provide a roundtrip ride to any SAPAS event or activity. We will provide a roundtrip ride for errands once per month.
  • SAPAS uses volunteers to fulfill these ride requests. Our Volunteers provide transportation only. They will get you to your appointment and back home. If you are having a medical procedure requiring a person to be home with you, once you return home, you must provide us the name and phone number of that person. Examples, appointments that will require sedation, outpatient surgeries, colonoscopy, eye and dental surgery etc. Our volunteers do not stay with patients once they arrive home. If you do not have a friend or relative to stay with you, we may be able to provide you the contact information for paid, in-home help.
  • The volunteer drivers do not receive any money when providing transportation. SAPAS does not charge for rides provided. Twice each year we mail cost sharing letters to those who have received our services at which time you may make a donation to the program if you wish. 
  • Do NOT call volunteers directly to ask for a ride.
  • Do feel free to contact us months in advance if you know of an appointment.  Scheduling well in advance works best for some drivers.
  • The volunteers all have busy lives, so please do not ask them to take you to any unplanned additional locations.  Please call our office to schedule another driver for any additional transportation needs.
  • If you no longer need a driver, for any reason (your appointment was cancelled, your son/daughter is driving you, etc.), please contact the office as soon as

possible so that we can stop working on the request and can reassign the driver.

  • You may always leave a message on our answering service (651-642-9052) about ride needs or cancellations. 
  • No rides will be provided for seniors living in a nursing home.
  • We can help you to get signed up for Metro Mobility so that you can do other shopping trips and go to your other weekly appointments.             

Process:

  • Please call the St. Anthony Park Area Seniors (SAPAS) office at 651-642-9052.  Tell us the date, time, location and length of the appointment.  Also let us know if you have any other requests regarding this ride (wheelchair, walker etc.)
  • Alisa Jesse is the primary coordinator of these rides.  She is part-time and can also be reached at vc@sapaseniors.org.
  • SAPAS staff will contact you right away when a driver has been found to fulfill your request.
  • The volunteer driver will call you the day before your appointment to confirm the details.
  • If we are unable to find a volunteer for your transportation request, we will call you 48 hours in advance. Volunteers are not paid or “on call” for assignments.  Therefore, we have to work within their availability on any given day and sometimes we are unable to schedule a volunteer driver. Note: If the appointment is far away, we have fewer volunteers who will drive a long distance.
  • We do not schedule volunteers to provide rides during the Thanksgiving holiday Week.  We do not schedule rides for two weeks around the Christmas holiday.
  • Covid 19 precautions: Please wear a mask, no matter your vaccination status. Riders should sit in the back seat of the car at the furthest distance from the driver.

    Updated on 8/24/2022