Blythe Wellness Express A Rides to Wellness Demonstration

Blythe Wellness Express A Rides to Wellness Demonstration Project 1

FTA Rides to Wellness Demonstration Projects Program Goals: Improve ACCESS to care IMPROVE health outcomes Reduce healthcare COSTS 2016 R 2 W Grants: 19 projects in 16 states $73 Million Our project: Riverside County Transportation Commission. Direct Recipient Palo Verde Valley Transit Agency - Operator 2

What we’re talking about today Valerie Mackintosh AMMA Transit Planning Overview Introduction & Project PVVTA George Colangeli: Community Engagement: People AMMA Transit Planning Dennis Brooks: The Strengths of a Small Town and Its Nuts and Bolts: Operational Planning RCTC Monica Morales: AMMA Transit Planning Not Just The Bank: RCTC’s Roles and Responsibilities Valerie Mackintosh: Measuring Wellness: Monitoring and Evaluating Healthcare 3

Community Engagement: The Strengths of a Small Town and Its People R 2 W Demonstration Project George Colangeli, General Manager Palo Verde Valley Transit Agency 4

Project Overview • Non-emergency medical bus service from Blythe to Coachella Valley • Deviated fixed route service ØDestinations: 3 hospitals, pharmacies deviations upon request • 265 miles round trip • 3 days per week • Riders register and reserve trip in advance 5

Project Overview Blythe, CA • A unique extreme rural, agricultural community in the Lower Colorado River Valley, North Sonoran Desert • Population: 20, 000+, 16, 000 actual • Medically underserved population • Community Challenges Palo Verde Valley Transit Agency • Desert Roadrunner: deviated fixed routes • Monday- Saturday; some holidays • 5 routes; 10, 500 trips annually • TRIP Program, Mobility Management 6

Rides to Wellness Grant Process FTA R 2 W Grant Awarded Sep. 12, 2016 • 1 of 19 funded projects; 78 submitted Overview of Grant Process • Short time frame • Gaining public support – 27 Letters of Support! Tapping into existing relationships • Building new partnerships, strengthening existing networks • Stakeholder group to help develop grant • Don’t be afraid to ask 7

Implementation Process & Lessons Learned From a workshop to an award • Challenges faced during the process • How to stand out Lessons learned and expected • Short time frame • Gain public support Continued research and planning • IVT Medtrans • Operational reality • Understanding our partners 8

Nuts & Bolts: Operations Planning R 2 W Demonstration Project Dennis Brooks, BWE Project Manager AMMA Transit Planning 9

Project Overview Need identified at 2016 Coordinated Plan Meeting in Blythe Service design based on Imperial County’s Med. Trans service Designed a service for Blythe § Developing a business plan § BWE specifics Building the team – Finding project partners 10

Additional Project Components • Project Partners § Direct Recipient- RCTC § Operational Partners § Funding partners § Riverside County Transportation Commission § Palo Verde Valley Transportation Authority § Palo Verde Hospital § Palo Verde Valley Community Improvement Fund § Supervisor John Benoit § Blythe Cancer Resource Center 11

Additional Project Components • Deviated Fixed-Route Service • PVVTA • Mobility Management • PVVTA Mobility Manager • Palo Verde Hospital Mobility Manager • Volunteer Driver Component • Independent Living Partnership TRIP • Emergency 0 perations assistance • Sunline Transit Agency 12

BWE Business Plan Where do people want to go? Coachella Valley medical destinations 3 Hospitals Multiple medical complexes Other necessary stops Rest stop break for restroom Sun. Line transfer location – Westfield Mall Isolated communities along the route 13

Operational Components Lifeline Medical Service Considerations Service days Start time and span of service Affordable fare Reservation process 14

Operational Components Lifeline Medical Service Considerations Contractor service costs Emergency planning for long distance trip Lessons learned from neighboring Imperial County service 15

Preliminary Operating Characteristics Route length: 128 miles w/out deviation Service miles per day: 256 w/out deviation Service hours per day: 9. 5 Estimated # of passengers: 7 Fare One-way: $10. 00 Round-trip: $15. 00 Annual operating cost: $120, 000 16

Implementation Process & Lessons Learned Execution of MOU’s with all partners Engage steering committee Vehicle test runs in to Coachella Valley Establish time points Threshold considerations for deviations Develop policies and procedures for operators Train Mobility Managers Execute marketing plan 17

Marketing and Promotion Engage marketing activities Branding/logo Riders Guide Prom 0 tional Materials Project Website User friendly landing page Pre-payment capability Update GTFS data for Google Transit Grand opening for July 3, 2017 launch 18

Sustainable Funding Sources FTA 5310 application for operating funds and new vehicle Pursue continued financial support from local partners Monitor operating costs in relation to fare revenue Other funding programs 5312 (R 2 W)/ 5311(f)/ LCTOP/ Medi-Cal 19

Not Just The Bank: RCTC’s Roles and Responsibilities R 2 W Demonstration Project Monica Morales, Management Analyst Riverside County Transportation Commission 20

RCTC’s Role and Responsibilities Diverse County –– 41% Growth by 2040 Unmet Transit Needs – BWE can meet some Ability to adapt and provide resources 21

RCTC’s Role and Responsibilities RCTC’s role as direct recipient Management of Grant Reporting Audit files FTA Point of Contact Contracts FTA Grant MOU/Sub-Recipient PVVTA partnership contracts 22

Implementati on Process & Lessons Learned Organizational Roles Coordination Good communication is bridge between confusion and Clarity – Nat Turner 23

Measuring Wellness: Monitoring & Evaluating Healthcare Outcomes R 2 W Demonstration Project Valerie Mackintosh, Community Outreach Specialist AMMA Transit Planning 24

Rides to Wellness Grant Application R 2 W Program Goals Increase access to care Improve health outcomes Reduce healthcare costs 25

Initial Need Assessment The Challenge Solutions Demonstrating need where limited data exists. Relying on existing partners Alternative sources CA OSHPD Healthcare Atlas California Health. Care Almanac Community member stories 26

Healthcare Evaluation Our hypothesis: With increased access to care, patients will comply more with their health plan (receive preventative care), reducing emergency room visits, and hospital admissions, thereby reducing healthcare costs and improving healthcare outcomes. 27

Healthcare Evaluation Healthcare Indicators: - Last non-emergency appt. ? Three-tiered process - Last ED visit? 1. Registration: survey - How many ED visits in last 2. Trip surveys year? 3. Year one assessment: Heath status/impacts survey- Last hospitalization Analysis of transit data - How did you get there? Rider focus group - Have you skipped an appt. due to lack of transportation? How would you rate your Partnership with Palo Verde -Hospital Mobility manager at hospital health? Assistance with survey design Partnership with Health Experts Recognize what you don’t know 28

Implementation Process & Lessons Learned Collecting data that is useful to partners Tracking same questions over time Survey design that is user friendly Promotion through hospital networks Lessons Expected Patient privacy concerns Other R 2 W Projects’ are performance Measures Maintaining partners’ engagement 29

Riverside County Transportation Commission: Planning | Oversight | Technical Assistance Pre-Application Planning Feb-Apr 2016 RCTC: Coordination Plan should respond to this need, enable pursuit of grants R 2 W Notice of Funding Available: March 29, 2016 R 2 W Grant Application Process Apr-May 2016 1 st Community Stakeholder Meeting: Project Need & Design April 14 th, 2016 RCTC commits to applying as direct recipient; funding grant assistance Project Implementation Process Sep 2016 -July 2017 R 2 W Grant Submitted: Mar 31, 2016 R 2 W Award Announced : Sep 12, 2016 Grant Preparation Need Resurfaces • Continued Coordination Plan Stakeholder Meetings Blythe Outreach • Business Plan Meeting: developed Feb 25, 2016 • Grant Application developed RCTC Riverside County Coordination Plan Update Process: Jan- Planning for Launch: • Partner contracts • Finalize roles • Finalize operations, rider policies • Rider Guide • Marketing materials Launch: July 3, 2017 30

George Colangeli: Palo. Verde. Bus@yahoo. com Monica Morales: MMorales@RCTC. org Dennis Brooks: Dbrooks@Amma. Transit. Planning. com Valerie Mackintosh: Valerie@Amma. Transit. Planning. com R 2 W Demonstration Project Presenter Emails 31