Ford uses van service to enter medical transport business

DEARBORN, Mich. – Ford is getting into the non-emergency medical transportation business as it moves toward making money off its experimental ventures in new mobility.

The automaker says its GoRide service is using 15 specially equipped vans to transport patients to more than 200 health care facilities in the Beaumont Health Network in the Detroit area.

Ford joins Uber and Lyft in getting into medical transportation. But GoRide offers bedside-to-bedside service from houses and nursing homes to medical facilities, including wheelchair service.

Ford Motor Co. is in talks with other health providers and plans to expand to other metro areas. It expects to have 60 vans operating in the Detroit area by year’s end.

Ford says transportation is often an obstacle to patients getting proper preventive care and medical treatment.