As of July 5, Northern Health Connections (NHC) is returning to standard passenger eligibility for the medical bus travel service. Passengers eligible to use the bus service include:
- those traveling for non-urgent medical procedures, including for appointments such as chiropractors and massage therapists, appointment verification continues to be required.
- Discharges (by health authority hospital staff), appointment verification is not required
- Medically-necessary companions.
- Staff and physicians (including health care students), who are travelling for work.
- Seniors (60+) appointment verification is not required.
READ MORE: Bus services taking extra measures because of COVID-19
- Northern Health Connections will return to standard seating but will continue with enhanced safety measures. Some changes implemented during the pandemic will be permanent, including:
- All travel must now be booked at least 24 hours in advance. Passenger manifests are required for safety and contact tracing purposes. NHC will not accept any walk-on passengers.
- Pre-booked assigned seating will be required (similar to air travel).
- People will be screened for COVID-19-like symptoms both when booking, and prior to boarding; anyone with symptoms will not be allowed to travel.
- Enhanced COVID cleaning and infection control measures will be ongoing.
- Passenger partitions will remain in place for the immediate future.
READ MORE: Northern Health bus service resumes standard passenger eligibility
The return to pre-pandemic seating capacity and eligibility is subject to national and provincial transportation and pandemic orders and guidelines.
The return to pre-pandemic eligibility and seating is contingent upon the BC Pandemic Restart Pan for Step 3 and may change. Reservations on NH Connections can be made by visiting nhconnections.ca or by calling 1-888-647-4997.
deb.meissner@interior-news.com
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