JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A small business owner in Jacksonville said his company is doing all they can to keep both employees and patients safe.
Jax Care provides transportation for non-emergency medical patients, and while COVID-19 could be a threat to its business, Jax Care co-owner Ken Elias told News4Jax they’ve been able to find a balance.
Jax Care transports hundreds of patients a day, taking them to hospitals and nursing homes.
“They need to get to their appointments and that’s what we’re about,” Elias said.
He said COVID-19 has increased their mindset, though they haven’t come across any cases and are watching closely.
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Jax Care stays in contact with hospitals and nursing homes for updates on how to handle patient care.
“One change is that patients where we would normally go into a facility and help a person from a bed into a wheelchair or a stretcher and transport them out, they are now meeting us at the door,” he explained.
He’s also making sure they're secure on the inside.
“Our stretchers, they’re always on our stretchers so that stretcher gets wiped down after each transport," Elias said. “(We wipe down the inside of the vehicles) several times a day. Typically, with a new protocol that we’re doing, we’re trying to establish an in force that we’re doing it after every run, so we’re heightening that up.”
Elias also explained what his employees would do if they were to come in contact with a patient showing symptoms.
“We would want them to get checked. We would hold them back from driving and contact the patient or the facility where we transported the patient from and try and find out what the circumstances were,” he said.
Jax Care doesn’t just take patients to nursing homes and hospitals, and News4Jax was told its other drop off locations have been limited for safety concerns.