When you are unable to be there with your loved one due to distance, or work commitments, or life situations, the only thing we want to know is that there is someone, somewhere who cares and watches over them with real care and attention. And that was our story.
I am Priya Deshmukh and my father, Rajiv, had undergone a complicated spinal procedure in Pennsylvania and I was residing and working in the other side of the country, San Diego. It was a painful experience, I could not hold his hand, promote his well-being, or just be there to support him. The period that followed his surgery was crucial, not only in health terms, but the emotional one. And during the times when my family and I were not able to be there in person, Infina Health was to act as our eyes, ears and hearts on the ground.
It all started as a mere request of transport and turned out to be more than that. I had not imagined that the deepest thing a non-emergency medical transport company could offer me was something emotional. However, that is what Infina Health did. They were not just drivers, or people who said, here is the wheelchair, they were people that cared, people you were able to trust, people you went on vacation with. They provided more than service; they gave assurance of mind; a thing which cannot be priced when your relative is helpless and lonely.
It started with panic. My father had a bad fall at home, and he needed a spinal surgery, and the process was likely to take a long time. Living thousands of miles away, my siblings and I attempted to arrange care at a distance, to the tune of video calls, medical recommendations, and local assistive services. As we scheduled visiting nurses and home helping services, we hit an enormous snag: how were we going to make him avail of follow-up appointments, rehabilitation services, and pain-control visits?
He was not able to sit on a normal car. Using public transport was not an option. And weekly visits by relying on neighbours were not practical. I could not sleep at nights, because I was afraid to miss essential appointments or have him suffer in in adapted conditions and take painful rides. Of course, we wanted something we could trust and depend upon. Not just a professional but a company that was also compassionate. It was at that time when I was informed about Infina Health by a case manager of his rehabilitation place.
It only took an online search and a call to get not only a service provider, but a lifeline. The first day that we talked, there was something that changed fear to reassurances. Infina Health did not only respond to my inquiries, but they seemed to know what I was afraid of. That was what made a difference.
Infina Health was different since the initial contact. Not only did the intake coordinator ask questions that had never been asked before regarding medical needs of my father, but he also inquired regarding his preferences, his likes, his fears, and his physical sensitivities, and even which language he preferred. She made the effort to listen to his moods, which was an extremely unusual experience in the transport services industry.
Even the initial trip was not a home to clinic ride; it was a ride to wellness. The driver, Malik, was a few minutes early and introduced himself in a respectful manner, and very delicately assisted my father to get into the car, step by step explaining everything he did. He even realized that Dad was getting cold and gave him a clean blanket that was kept in the van. During the drive he played calm delicate music and also talked in a polite conversation that ensured that Dad stayed alert and at ease.
That night, Dad phoned me and said, “I felt like nobody cared. Not just took me for ride.”
Infina Health was committed to communication which is one of the outstanding features of this company. Being a long-distance resident, I used to worry all the time: Has he arrived safely? Was he treated well? Did he have trouble in the hand-off?
Infina Health was able to answer those questions even before I could ask. They allowed me to receive notifications of when the driver was on his way, when Dad has been picked up and when he has been dropped off safely. The driver would even call me to inform me about how the appointment was or tell me that Dad felt a bit tired or was in a happy mood.
I can tell you those phone calls were everything to me. They have transformed a nameless service into interhuman contact. Somebody was watching, not delivering. Their drivers were more than passengers deliverers; they were a sender of good peace. These updates would give me the impression as though I was also part of the daily journey that my father was making even when I was unable to be there. I had room to breathe, and to be emotionally alive, even though far away because I knew I was looped into all that the person in the other place was doing and going through.
At one point Dad complained of minor swelling of the legs. He did not think it was significant at all, but on a normal transport, the driver reported it to the nurse in the clinic. The nurse observed it and it turned out to be one of the initial indicators of a circulatory problem that needed to be treated promptly. Such kind of observation and advocacy by a transportation team was unheard of.
Infina Health was not an autopilot company. They were also educated, vigilant, and focused on patient welfare. It was not check-boxing; it was dotted connecting.
In addition to medical awareness, the staff of Infina Health displayed emotional intelligence all the time. They detected it on times when Dad was feeling lousy or dissatisfied with his achievements. Such drivers as Michelle or Andre would put some encouraging words, share light stories, or simply allow him to sit without talking in case he did not need it. They heeded his moods and yet they were there.
These everyday little things meant a lot to someone who had to live with limited mobility and independence. Dad no longer feared going to a healthcare facility. He regarded them as small outings by which he had the chance to dialogue with kind and consistent individuals.
They also did not forget his birthday and gave him a card signed by many team members. We will never forget that kind of humanity.
As a South Asian family, it is important to take into consideration some cultural peculiarities in transfers, diet, and so on: a person needs some comfort food at the home, or even his or her way of communication is more basic. The staff of Infina Health managed everything without any problem and with a lot of understanding.
They had to take time to learn how to pronounce the name of Dad. They understood that when he had hard days, he preferred to listen to devotional songs, and they facilitated it. They were well-spoken, they took off their shoes upon entering the house, they were well mannered and were sensitive about traditions.
The moments that might have been perceived as embarrassing discontinuities of knowledge turned into times of respect.
My siblings and I had set up a common WhatsApp group to share the burden of care, and each time Infina Health made a trip, it was punctuated by messages such as, “They brought him safely there,” “He was comfortable” or “Driver Michelle was excellent today!”
It was not their service only to my father but a relief to a whole family. Even my aging mother who was with Dad in Pennsylvania was more at ease since there were professionals handling the transport. She also highlighted how polite and well-behaved the staff was, never putting her in such a hurry or making her feel inconvenient.
Infina Health has reinvented the way non-emergency transport was supposed to be. They did not only provide a service rather they were members of the care team of my father. Their attitude was patient-based, emotionally literate and culturally aware.
Infina Health provides more than transportation to the families residing far away in different places and requiring medical attention. They promise certainty and trustworthiness and an element of humanity in a process which can be cold and bureaucratic.
Every transport must consist of compassion, every employee must learn to be empathetic, and every patient must be a person first and they should use their model as a standard.
In retrospective, I can safely say that more than my father was carried in the vans of Infina Health. They bore what I feared, what I hoped, and what I thanked. They were the caring eyes that could not be there.
To those who can use a non-emergency medical transport service that is reliable, a place where they can be treated with decency, and a place that is not just a ride, I will say this: Infina Health is more than a ride. They are wheeled peace of mind.
Their staff will manage your loved one in such a way as to provide the type of dignity, care and attention that you would give to yourself. That is an invaluable gift in a world where distance and time may as well tear families apart.
Infina Health, your desire to bring the gap between distance and love is lashed together.
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