Patients say Edgecombe County DSS transportation issues lead to poor care
Tamyka Brown attends dialysis in Rocky Mount three days a week. She relies on the transportation services covered by Medicaid and provided by Edgecombe County Department of Social Services which she says, lately, has been failing her.
"You have a lot of people that are getting there late, some that are not getting picked up on time, and you have some who are not even getting picked up at all," Brown said.
Brown said the poor care started after the county switched its secondary transportation provider from Fountain Transportation to FLOVI Transportation.
"One day, I was there. I got off my machine at about 2:30, and I didn't get home until 7 or 8 o'clock," Brown said.
The trip from Brown's home near Martin Luther King Park in Rocky Mount to the dialysis center should take about 15 minutes, yet she spends hours on the bus before and after her appointments while others are picked up and dropped off.
"I'm on dialysis. I'm in a chair for 4 1/2 hours, and I can't eat that morning. We're ready to go home and get some sleep," she said.
County Manager Eric Evan said the county has looked into these concerns and worked out some issues in the first months after switching services.
"Whether you're in a period of transition or not, when this service is being provided for hundreds of people on a weekly basis, it is not going to be perfect," Evans said.
Evans said the primary provider has remained Tar River Transit for several years.
He said the previous secondary driver provided more one-on-one transportation, but the service wasn't cost-effective.
"It can't always be available, where it is what I will call a one-on-one service, that is, where the provider comes to pick up that one client, takes them to their appointments, and comes back to pick them up and bring them back home. I am sure folks who use the service would like for it to operate that way. But that's a very expensive way for that service to be provided," Evans said.
Money aside, Brown says the current system isn't working.
"They pull up to your house, and they don't knock on the door. They honk the horn, and if you ain't there in five minutes, they leave," she said. "You have people who do not care."
The Edgecombe County manager said he will continue to look into any concerns brought to him.
He also reminds people that Medicaid offers another option where a friend or family member can take them to an appointment and apply for reimbursement instead.
