There is a new program that will soon be available to Dallas County residents for health related areas.

The Heart of Iowa Regional Transit Agency (HIRTA) is partnering with the Dallas County Health Department and Dallas County Hospital to give residents rides to their health appointments or other health related needs. HIRTA is calling the ride service the Health Connector and Business Development Manager Brooke Ramsey gave a presentation regarding the logistics of how the program works followed by a ribbon cutting by the Perry Chamber of Commerce.

The Dallas County Hospital will have a kiosk located at the North Entrance for patients to schedule a ride to a store to pick up a prescription or if they need to be transported to another health clinic in Dallas County. Dallas County Hospital’s Director of Marketing and Foundation Tom Harmsen notes that there are also QR Codes scattered throughout the hospital as well.

“The QR Codes are designed to expand on directional services for individuals who are blind or low vision, that way they can essentially follow the prompts in terms of how to navigate which direction to go, (and) how far they are from certain places in the hospital.”

Community Health Administrator Abigail Chihak at the Dallas County Health Department speaks on the organization’s role in the project.

“Helping to connect our transportation partners with our partners in the healthcare space. We hear a lot of stories about how people schedule their appointments, but then they don’t have a way to get there, and so they either ‘no-show’ or they have to reschedule and then it’s even further out. And so we really don’t want people prolonging that healthcare, we want people to be able to get in, see their healthcare providers to get any preventative care done to get their healthcare needs met in a timely and efficient manner.”

Chihak explains that a phone application is available for users to download in order to schedule a ride. For more information, contact HIRTA at (877)-686-0029, Dallas County Hospital at (515)-465-3547, or the Dallas County Health Department at (515)-993-3750.