Medical appointment chauffeur in Toronto

The day this page is for

An appointment on University Avenue at 1:45 that could take forty minutes or two hours. A parent who should not be standing on Elizabeth Street waiting for a car. A discharge from day surgery when the hospital will not release the patient to a taxi. A course of treatment at Princess Margaret three mornings a week. A child at SickKids and a family from out of town. A specialist in North York, then bloodwork in Scarborough, then the pharmacy, then home. Each is a day where the usual options - a relative taking the day off, a ride-app at the door of a hospital, the parking garage on Murray Street - are the wrong tool, and a chauffeur who waits is the right one.

A medical appointment chauffeur is an hourly booking - three hours minimum for a sedan or SUV - with a chauffeur assigned for patience and discretion, an SUV if there is a wheelchair or walker, and a clock that simply runs while the appointment takes as long as it takes. The half-day page is the same product for a shorter day; this page is about the hospitals.

Toronto's hospitals, and where the car waits

University Avenue - hospital row. Toronto General (200 Elizabeth Street), Mount Sinai (600 University), Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (610 University), SickKids (555 University), Toronto Rehab, and the Toronto Western further west on Bathurst. The avenue itself is a no-stopping corridor; the chauffeur uses Elizabeth Street for TGH, Murray Street for Mount Sinai, Gerrard for SickKids and the Princess Margaret lay-by, and waits with the flashers on rather than circling. The patient is walked to the door and collected from it. The downtown area page has the streets.

Sunnybrook (2075 Bayview) has a proper drop-off loop at the main entrance and a chauffeur waits in the visitor lot rather than the loop. St. Michael's (Queen and Victoria) is Bond Street, not Queen. Women's College is Grenville. Michael Garron in East York has a Coxwell loop. Humber River in North York and Trillium in Mississauga have large loops and free waiting. St. Joseph's on the Queensway, Scarborough Health Network's three sites, Southlake in Newmarket, Oakville Trafalgar, Lakeridge in Oshawa: each area page has the practical note, and the chauffeur has driven to all of them.

The days people book

The single appointment, with waiting. Pickup at 1 pm, the appointment at 1:45, the pharmacy after, home by 4. Three or four hours. The chauffeur waits however long the appointment runs, which is the entire reason to book.

The treatment course. Princess Margaret at 8 am three mornings a week for six weeks: a standing booking, the same chauffeur each time, three hours a morning, the patient never waiting for a car after treatment. The multi-day page explains standing bookings and the personal chauffeur page the longer arrangement.

The day-surgery discharge. Hospitals will not discharge a patient after sedation to a taxi or a ride-app; they want a named person and a vehicle. A chauffeur booked for the discharge time, waiting in the lot, walking the patient out with a nurse, driving gently and helping at the door at home meets the requirement and the family's peace of mind. Two to three hours. Say "post-sedation discharge" in the notes and the SUV's higher seat is offered.

The specialist tour. A day across the GTA: the cardiologist in North York at 9, bloodwork in Scarborough at 11, the eye clinic downtown at 2, the pharmacy, home. Six hours in one car instead of four separate rides with a patient waiting at each.

The family from out of town. A child at SickKids or a parent at Toronto General, and a family staying at the Delta Chelsea or a Ronald McDonald House: a chauffeur for the week between the hotel, the hospital and the grocery store, at the hours the hospital sets. The multi-day page covers the week.

The second opinion out of town. Hamilton's Juravinski, McMaster Children's, London's University Hospital, Kingston General: an hourly day out and back with the patient resting on the drive. The Hamilton area page and the London and Kingston day-trip pages give the drive.

What the chauffeur does, and does not do

Does: arrives early; walks the patient to the entrance and, if wanted, to the department; waits in the car or nearby for as long as it takes; watches the phone for the "ready" text; returns to the exact door; helps with a walker, a wheelchair (which travels folded in the boot of an SUV), a bag of medication and a hand on the arm; drives gently; carries things in at home; and says nothing about any of it to anyone. Does not: provide medical care, lift a patient who cannot bear weight, or replace a non-emergency medical transport service for a passenger who must travel on a stretcher. For those, Ontario's non-emergency patient transfer services are the right call, and the desk will say so.

The right car

The Luxury SUV for anyone with a wheelchair, a walker, a cast, a hip or a knee, or post-surgery stiffness: the seat is at standing height, the door opens wide, the boot takes the equipment. The Executive Sedan for an ambulatory patient and a companion. The Mercedes S-Class for the patient who wants the reclining rear seat for a long treatment day. A child seat is fitted free for SickKids appointments; note the age. The fleet page has the detail.

Privacy and discretion

The booking is in whoever's name makes it; the passenger's name and the hospital go in the notes only so the chauffeur can find the right door. Nothing about the appointment is recorded beyond the address, nothing is discussed, and the chauffeur will not ask. Ontario's PHIPA governs health information and we are not a health-information custodian; we are a car service that goes to hospitals, and we behave accordingly.

What it costs, and who pays

The class hourly rate times the hours, plus HST and gratuity, shown before you confirm. Three hours is the minimum. The rates page explains the number. Some extended health plans and some employers' benefits reimburse transportation to medical appointments; the receipt is itemised by date, time and address for that purpose, and the desk will issue a letter confirming the booking on request. Hospital parking on University Avenue is not charged because the chauffeur does not use it.

Booking it

Choose By the hour, the class, the pickup address, the date and the time, and three or four hours. In the notes: the hospital and the department, the appointment time, whether a wheelchair or walker travels, "post-sedation discharge" if it is one, and a second contact - a son or daughter - who should get the plate text and the "collected" text. For a standing course of treatment, call the desk and the same chauffeur is booked for the run. For a family from out of town, the multi-day booking is set up from the hospital's schedule.

A treatment morning, timed

7:40 the chauffeur texts the plate. 7:55 at the door in Leaside, SUV, the walker folded into the boot, the patient in the front passenger seat because it is easier. 8:20 Princess Margaret's lay-by on University; the chauffeur walks the patient to the elevators. 8:30-10:45 treatment; the chauffeur waits on Gerrard and answers the daughter's text. 10:50 collected at the same door. 11:10 the pharmacy on Bayview. 11:30 home; the chauffeur carries the bag in and puts the kettle on because he was asked to. Three hours and thirty-five minutes; four billed; the same chauffeur Wednesday and Friday.

The GTA hospitals, and where the car waits

Companions, and who rides

A companion rides at no extra charge in any class; the hourly rate is for the car, not the passengers. A parent with two adult children to a consultation is a sedan or, more comfortably, the SUV. A patient who wants the chauffeur to walk them to the department and wait there rather than in the car can have that; say so in the notes, and the chauffeur's presence in a waiting room is quiet and unremarkable.

Standing bookings and the same chauffeur

A course of dialysis, chemotherapy, radiation, physiotherapy or a series of specialist visits is set up once by phone as a standing booking: the days, the times, the class, the same chauffeur wherever the diary allows, and a single monthly receipt for a benefits claim. Changes to the hospital's schedule are relayed by the family or the patient by text; nothing is re-quoted.

Out-of-town patients and the hotel

Patients referred to Toronto from across Ontario and beyond often stay at a hotel near University Avenue - the Chelsea, the DoubleTree on Chestnut, the Holiday Inn on Carlton - or at a hospital-affiliated residence. A three-hour block from the hotel to the hospital and back, each treatment day, with the same chauffeur, is the usual booking, and the desk can set it up from the referral letter's dates before the patient arrives. Family members who fly in are collected at Pearson with the flight tracked.

From our network: LWD article - accessible vehicle requests · VWD article - accessibility in travel · VWD article - family travel · LAI article - private chauffeur services · BookingWorldwide.net - Toronto hotels, flights and activities.

Official sources for planning: Destination Toronto · Ontario 511 - road conditions.