Several Western Slope transportation companies that accept Medicaid reimbursement rides to and from regional medical appointments are receiving more calls and working to step up operations.

Health First Colorado – the state’s Medicaid program – suspended on Friday its contract with the medical transportation company, MedRide, due to alleged fraudulent paperwork issues.

A statement on the MedRide website notes: “Starting Friday morning, Feb. 7, we are temporarily unable to provide transportation for Medicaid patients. We are deeply sorry for this inconvenience, and we are currently working closely with the state to resolve this issue. We will resume ride services as soon as possible.”

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MedRide is a Non-Emergent Medical Transportation company, or NEMT, operating out of four offices in Colorado. MedRide, with its signature black vehicles with a large red-letter logo, is one of multiple transportation companies offering rides to and from medical appointments with services for ambulatory and wheelchair customers.

“MedRide was a crucial and very helpful service for our region, and it’s going to make it very challenging for people on Medicaid to travel to their appointments outside Steamboat,” said Regional Health Connector Emily Schweitzer with nonprofit The Health Partnership.

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The Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing publishes a list by county of companies related to non-emergent medical transportation. The website link, Hcpf.Colorado.gov/nemtlist, includes nine companies listed in Moffat County and seven companies in Routt County. However, transportation company managers say the number of companies on the lists that customers can actually call to book rides is limited.

Operations Manager Christina Guire from the High Mountain Taxi office in Glenwood Springs was on her way to pick up a new signature white mini-van for the company’s fleet at lunchtime Friday. Guire and representatives from other transportation companies said they are working to ramp up services and looking for additional drivers to fill the void caused by the loss of MedRide.

“We need to make sure we are taking care of our community people who need to get to and from their appointments,” Guire said. “Our communities on the Western Slope need to be taken care of. We are picking up a lot more people.”

Several companies such as High Mountain Taxi and Sunshine Rides say they provide regular customer service from Craig. They say they provide service from Steamboat Springs depending on availability and a suggested prior booking of at least 24 to 48 hours.

Mike Bertram, assistant director at the Northwest Colorado Center for Independence, said the nonprofit’s ride service can help people who have a self-disclosed permanent disability. Those riders need to sign up for service through the center and are requested to book rides at least one week in advance.

“A lot of our customers have been using MedRide, and we’ve seen an increase in calls,” Bertram said. “We want to try to cover the gap as much we can to work with people to get to their medical appointments. We are going to do what we can to help cover, but we need more providers to help cover.”

For rides only within Routt County for people 60 or older, the Routt County Council on Aging can provide transportation for medical appointments or to activities related to council programming. The suggested lead time is 48 hours, and the suggested donation is $2 per ride.

In Craig, the nonprofit Community Budget Center also organizes a volunteer-run ride service called Heartfelt Destinations for medical appointments as far away as Denver. Heartfelt currently is looking for more funding and volunteers, said Vince Mooney, budget center executive director.