Senior Center ends Med-A-Van dialysis ride program

The North Big Horn Senior Citizens Center ended its Med-A-Van ride service to dialysis services in Cody as of December 31, 2025. According to Senior Center Director Kim Gifford, it was a difficult decision but one that had to be made for both financial and practical reasons.

Gifford said several factors led to the decision, including a reduction in the volume of patients requesting the service, an increase in the need to use the van for the center’s growing need for transportation within its service district (Lovell, Cowley, Byron, Frannie and Deaver) and the retirement of the program’s longtime driver, Bill Gifford.

She said the program began “many, many years ago,” taking five senior citizens to Cody three times a week for dialysis treatments on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

“We would coordinate their appointments with the staff at the dialysis center, so they would all get their dialysis at the same time,” she explained.

Gifford added, with staff changes at the dialysis center in Cody, it’s been more difficult to coordinate those appointments. At the same time, there has been a decrease in the number of patients using the service.

She noted that it’s just too expensive to provide the service for so few riders, especially since the van and funds to operate it are needed to meet the increased demand for transportation services within the center’s service district.

“Over the years we consistently had about four to five riders (using the dialysis ride service), mostly seniors. Sometimes we would get down to two but always knew we had someone who was going to start riding,” she explained. “We had three riders until October of 2025, then only had one full-time rider plus one that only rides one way. Dialysis personnel would let patients know about the transportation service to get new riders. They have not referred any new patients that wanted to ride for a while.”

In the meantime, demand for the center’s general ride service has grown exponentially. She said the service, which normally provides 700 to 800 rides per month, is now averaging closer to 1,000 to 1,100 rides per month. December of 2025 saw a spike in demand, with 1,142 rides provided.

To accommodate the increased demand for rides within the service district, the center has hired another part-time driver and will use the Med-A-Van, formerly used for trips to dialysis in Cody, to serve the senior citizen population locally. The funding for the program would also be transferred to the regular transportation program.

Gifford explained that the center pays for its transportation programs from several different funding sources, including a small amount of funding from WSIL (Wyoming Services for Independent Living), some funding through WYDOT (Wyoming Department of Transportation) and local funds. A fundraiser among North Big Horn Hospital employees provided an additional donation to the senior center, allowing the Med-A-Van program to continue through the end of 2025. Originally, the program was slated to end in November.

“We are disappointed that the service has ended, because it is so important for our community,” said North Big Horn Hospital CEO Eric Connell. “We held a fundraiser among our staff to provide additional funding ($2,000) to the senior center so they could continue in the month of December.”

Gifford said it was a difficult decision to make, but one that was made in the interest of using Senior Center resources in a way that best serves the greatest number of citizens in the community.

“The resources that were being allocated can now be utilized for our local transportation program, and many more people will be served,” Gifford said.