Ep. 22 Wheels When You Need Them: The Golden Rule of Patient Transport

When mobility becomes a barrier to healthcare, special events, or even attending a loved one's funeral, the consequences extend far beyond mere inconvenience. Johnnie Reed recognized this critical gap in services and founded Grace Transportation ten years ago, creating a lifeline for those navigating the healthcare system and life's important moments in Hampton Roads.

The transportation service began with a focused mission on non-emergency medical appointments but quickly expanded to meet broader community needs. Today, Grace Transportation doesn't just shuttle patients to dialysis treatments and doctor visits—they enable wheelchair users to attend proms, help families get to church services, and provide dignified transportation for funeral attendance. This evolution reflects Johnny's deep understanding that transportation isn't merely a logistical matter but a profound human need.

What sets Grace Transportation apart is their unwavering commitment to treating passengers with dignity and respect. As Johnnie poignantly shares, this philosophy stems from personal experience when her mother needed cancer treatment transportation. "A lot of people just look at it as transportation. I want them to feel comfortable and relaxed with us," she explains. This golden rule approach—training drivers to treat each passenger as they would their own family member—creates an atmosphere of care that transcends typical transportation services. Now, as Johnny prepares for retirement at 71, she's thoughtfully transitioning the business to her granddaughter, ensuring that Grace Transportation's compassionate approach continues serving the Virginia Beach community for years to come. 

Need transportation in Hampton Roads that treats you like family? Contact Grace Transportation today and experience the difference that dignity-centered service makes for medical appointments and special occasions alike.

Grace Transportation Service

Johnnie Reid

Virginia Beach, VA

757-362-1188

www.gracetransportationservice.com

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Denise Taylor.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Hi, today I'm with Johnny Reed with Grace
Transportation in Virginia Beach.
Welcome, Johnny.

Speaker 3 (00:21):
Thank you, welcome.
I'm glad to be here.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Good, tell me about your business.

Speaker 3 (00:28):
Okay, grace Transportation is a family-owned
business.
We started about 10 years agoand what we actually do is
non-emergency medicaltransportation.

(00:48):
So we provide services formembers to take them to the
doctors or to their dialysisappointments.
We even take people to churchif they need that service as
well.
So we've kind of expanded offinto that.
We actually started with justdoing non-emergency medical
transportation so we had anoperating authority to just take
people back and forth to thedoctor.
But we expanded after a coupleyears to do for hire, so that

(01:12):
meant that we could do any typeof transportation and meet other
customers' needs.
We wanted to kind of focus westarted with the wheelchairs to
kind of focus on kids inwheelchairs and that maybe
wanted to go to the prom.
So that was something that wewere looking at and also, too,

(01:34):
for members that had theirfamily members that had passed
away and they were inwheelchairs and they wanted to
attend the funeral.
So we provide thattransportation as well.

Speaker 2 (01:46):
That's fantastic.
So you've been in business for10 years and then when did you
transition to be able to providetransportation for outside of
the yeah?

Speaker 3 (02:00):
So that about three years after going into the
business, because we saw a needfor, you know, just to do the on
hire, you know, for hire, so wewere able to just expand to do
those things.

Speaker 2 (02:16):
And you mentioned something about members.
Do you have a membership andhow does that work?

Speaker 3 (02:22):
I actually work right now I do have five brokers.
Those brokers come in and theysign trips to me and I can
accept the ones that I can doand the ones that I cannot do.

Speaker 2 (02:37):
How many drivers do you currently have?

Speaker 3 (02:39):
I have five drivers right now and I have five
vehicles.

Speaker 2 (02:44):
And you service.
What cities do you service?

Speaker 3 (02:47):
I service Norfolk, virginia Beach, chesapeake,
basically the seven cities, Iwould say the Hampton Roads area
.

Speaker 2 (02:55):
Great.
And what is the typical cost ofthe transportation?
Right but for hire.

Speaker 3 (03:03):
It's kind of pricey because we go by mileage.
Okay Depends on whether theperson is an ambulatory, meaning
that they can walk and get intothe vehicle, or if they're
wheelchairs.
So they vary between the twoand we go by mileage.

Speaker 2 (03:20):
So Okay, perfect.
Can you tell me some myths ormisconceptions about your
business?

Speaker 3 (03:29):
Oh, I can tell you probably a lot, because I have
picked up a lot of members andthey're they're saying that
they've been dropped off andhave not been picked back up.
Oh, no, yes, or they're notpicked up on time.
So that's the thing that wefocus on is our quality is being

(03:50):
on time for on-time deliveryand pick up, and we try to pick
up as soon as possible.

Speaker 2 (03:56):
That's fantastic, what?
What is one thing you wish ourlisteners knew about your
business locally here inVirginia Beach?

Speaker 3 (04:08):
Well, that we are.
Like I said, we strive to do,you know, good business with
people.
We also, you know, we we treatpeople like they are family
members, Because the thing aboutit is, you know, I looked at it
I had my mom here with me for awhile and she had esophagus
cancer and had to be transportedfor chemo and stuff.

(04:29):
And you know a lot of peoplethey just look at it as
transportation.
I don't want to have mybusiness out there to say I'm
just here transporting a memberor a person.
I want them to feel comfortableand relaxed with us and that's
what we try to do.
I, you know, I've trained mydrivers to say, okay, this could

(04:50):
be your mother, you know, thiscould be your, you know, so you
want to treat them as such.
You know it's the golden rule.

Speaker 2 (04:59):
Yes, it is the golden rule.
That's fantastic, fantasticOutside of what, your
involvement, obviously, in thismedical community, in the
community with transportationand patients.
What do you do in VirginiaBeach for fun, or how do you
spend your extracurricular time?

Speaker 3 (05:18):
Well, I'm going to be honest with you.

Speaker 2 (05:21):
I'm one years old and my husband he's.
I'm sorry you cut out.
What was it.

Speaker 3 (05:33):
Sorry, I'm 71 years old and my husband's 79.
And, like I said, we started itabout 10 years ago when I was
working for a corporatecorporation and he and I both
we're in the transition ofretiring.
So what I did was I brought mygranddaughter here from Atlanta,
georgia, so I'm trying totransition her to be able to run
this business and she's done agreat job.

(05:55):
She's been here for about threeyears now.
So, for fun, I do a lot oftraveling, I do a lot of cruises
.

Speaker 2 (06:03):
Oh fun.
Where's your favorite placethat you've cruised to?
Oh?

Speaker 3 (06:07):
Hawaii.
I just went to Hawaii and wewent to all the islands, so that
was really nice.
I enjoyed that.

Speaker 2 (06:15):
When did you do that?

Speaker 3 (06:17):
A couple of months ago actually in April.

Speaker 2 (06:20):
And how long was the cruise?
For 16 days.
How many days 16.
Oh wow, Good for you.

Speaker 3 (06:40):
So before my granddaughter came I wasn't able
to do any really, you know,traveling or me and my husband
to do any traveling or anything,because this business is very
demanding.
You know, we started out, likeI said, 10 years ago and we were
doing that, we were doingalmost seven days a week, you
know, and then people were evenhospital discharges late at
night and we would try to dothat.
But that was just to get, youknow, get our business going.
But we've kind of scaled backfrom doing that.
So we have hours of operationfrom six to six and I do Monday

(07:04):
through, I do Monday throughSaturday and then, like I said
too, if a person wants to go tochurch on Sunday or something,
we do make provisions for thatyou know when we can.

Speaker 2 (07:14):
So tell me what your typical day looks like, your
Monday through Saturday.
Oh, just running this business.
It sounds like a lot of movingparts.
Tell me about that.

Speaker 3 (07:24):
Yeah, it starts out at five o'clock in the morning
and it could start earlierbecause we have, you know,
dialysis clients that have to bepicked up that time.
So drivers come, they get thepaperwork for the previous you
know, I actually have it forthem the previous day but they
start out then with that and thephone is ringing off the hook

(07:48):
every five minutes because I'mready to be picked up, you know
or either go back home, so wehave dispatching.
My granddaughter and I both dothe dispatching, we do all the
paperwork, we even do thedriving.
So today was one of thefortunate days I didn't have to
go out.

Speaker 2 (08:07):
And how are you typically getting the business?
I mean, do the doctors knowabout you?
Do the facilities know aboutyou?
Is it word of mouth?

Speaker 3 (08:17):
Yeah, it's basically kind of word of mouth but, like
I said, I work for differentbrokers and they send trips to
me and I choose the ones that Iwant, but I also have, you know,
certain facilities that youknow call me because they have
assistant living, and that'swhat really.
I want to expand more into that, into doing this the assistant

(08:40):
living in the private sector.

Speaker 2 (08:43):
That's fantastic.
Tell our listeners your websiteand how they can get in touch
with you.
Okay.

Speaker 3 (08:50):
The phone number here is 757-326-6600 or 757-326-1188
.
888-326-1188.
It'sgracetransportationservicesllc
at gmailcom.

Speaker 2 (09:10):
Okay, that's your email address, and then your
website isgracetransportationservicecom.
Is that right?
Yes, perfect.
Thank you so much, johnny, forbeing here today and being part
of our community.
Okay, and thank you for havingme.
You're welcome.

Speaker 3 (09:27):
Have a good day.

Speaker 1 (09:28):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go tognpvirginiabeachcom.
That's gnpvirginiabeachcom, orcall 757-797-8352.