To provide access to its services, the Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System is taking part in the Veterans Administration Uber Health Connect. The initiative will provide supplemental transportation to eligible veterans needing access to and from medical care.

“This is a life-altering program that offers our most vulnerable veterans care — the moment they need it,” said Tuskegee-based CAVHCS Director/CEO Amir Farooqi. “It also advances our ability to offer more accessible, equitable health care to our local veteran community.”

The VA said the initiative is meant to shorten what it calls the “transportation gap.”

“The VA Uber Health Connect Initiative bridges the transportation gap by ensuring Veterans have reliable transportation for their health care needs.” said Dr. Indra Sandal, the national lead of VA Uber Health Connect. “By offering ridesharing as an additional means of transportation, VA is helping veterans receive access to the best and soonest possible care — while still achieving cost savings.”

According to a survey conducted from March 2022 to January 2023, 83% of a group of 2,300 veterans said they would not have been able to access their medical care without the program.

The VA Uber Health Connect Initiative began in 2022 at 10 VA Medical Centers. From January 2022 to March 2023, VA Uber Health Connect logged more than 30,000 Uber rides across 408,529 miles for veterans.

These rides have increased access, improved clinical engagement and saved the VA an estimated $35 million, the agency said. The cost savings are partly from faster emergency department and inpatient discharges and closing the gap on an estimated 28,000 missed appointments.

Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News.