New Rideshare Service for Mental Health Appointments Coming Soon to Rockford

A new rideshare service aimed at improving access to mental health appointments is coming soon to Rockford. The initiative, led by the Region 1 Planning Council and local mental health boards, will address transportation barriers, ensuring residents get the care they need.

A new rideshare service aimed at improving access to mental health care is set to launch in the Rockford area in the coming months. This initiative follows a recent study by the Region 1 Planning Council, which highlighted the challenges local residents face in accessing mental health services, especially due to transportation issues.

The study revealed that one-third of regional mental health providers report that transportation barriers prevent patients from receiving the services they need. Jason Holcomb, the director of community impact at the Region 1 Planning Council (R1), emphasized this issue: “One of the things that we learned is that while we have a lot of great mental health resources in this community, people are still having trouble getting to all their mental health appointments.”

To address this critical gap, R1 has teamed up with the Winnebago County Community Mental Health Board to launch a rideshare program that will offer transportation for mental health appointments. “That will provide either door-to-door or curb-to-curb transportation to mental health appointments,” Holcomb added.

The program’s development drew inspiration from a similar initiative in McHenry County, where Kaizen Health, a third-party rideshare service, was successfully used to transport patients to appointments. “When we looked at best practices, we were looking at what other mental health boards near us also use and getting their testimonials in terms of how successful those programs have been,” Holcomb explained.

R1 plans to roll out the service over the next few months, with no costs to clients or healthcare providers. “We worked with members of the Rockford Regional Health Council, and about 60% of the responses that we got on a communications form from them indicated their clientele has a high level of need for transportation services,” said Nathan Larsen, a planner at R1 Planning Council. “So, it’s definitely something that will be impactful.”

Healthcare clinicians will be able to schedule transportation through a new web portal, ensuring that clients have reliable transportation to their appointments. Some local organizations funded by the mental health sales tax will also be trained to use the system.

Source: WIFR