Non-Emergency Medical Transportation in Gainesville, FL: Alachua County's Certificate and Who Books the Rides

Alachua County folds wheelchair and stretcher companies into its emergency medical services law. Chapter 52, Article II of the county’s Administrative Code, the Alachua County Emergency Medical Services Act, was adopted as Ordinance 93-9 in March 1993. It says no one may provide nonemergency transport in the county without a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the Board of County Commissioners, the same kind of certificate the county’s ambulance services hold. It applies in Gainesville and every other city in the county, and in the unincorporated areas. State steps such as Florida Medicaid enrollment and owner screening are on the Florida guide.

Who needs the Alachua County certificate

The code defines a nonemergency transport provider as anyone the county authorizes to provide medically related transportation for people who do not need medical treatment or monitoring during the ride. A wheelchair or stretcher company that serves Gainesville’s hospitals, dialysis centers, and nursing homes fits that definition.

For wheelchair and stretcher work, three exemptions matter:

• Public bus systems that carry wheelchair riders.
• School bus systems, public or private, whose main business is carrying children to school and school activities.
• Hospitals in the county that move their own patients between their own facilities in their own vehicles.

A certificate does not replace any state license you also need.

How to apply and what the board weighs

The application is on the board’s form, signed and sworn by the applicant. Section 52.27 lists what it must contain:

1. Your company. The owner’s name and business address, the name you operate under, every officer, director, and shareholder, and your registered agent.
2. Your territory and bases. The area you want to serve, and each place you operate from.
3. Every vehicle. Make, model, year, mileage, VIN, size and gross weight, and the colors, name, and markings that identify it.
4. References. The names and addresses of at least three county residents.
5. A rate schedule for your services.
6. Insurance. An agreement to file public liability, property damage, and malpractice coverage before the certificate takes effect, in amounts the board sets and at least the state minimum. Each policy must give the board 30 days’ notice before cancellation.
7. Standard operating procedures. An agreement to file them before the certificate takes effect. The system medical director must approve them before you start service.

Other certificate holders must promise round-the-clock service, but nonemergency transport providers do not. The county investigates your finances, your ability to keep up and replace equipment, and your fitness to operate, and the inspection officer inspects you.

When you file, the board notifies every existing operator serving any part of your proposed area. Each has 30 days from the mailing to file a formal protest and serve it on you. Within 90 days of the notice, the board grants, grants with conditions, or denies the application. It may consider whether current services already meet the need, your finances, your qualifications, the effect on existing operators, and any protests.

A certificate lasts two years, and the board treats a renewal like a new application. Selling the certificate, or any change in majority ownership that changes your officers, directors, or managers, also needs board approval through the same process.

What your vans and crews need

Section 52.43 sets the standards for every nonemergency transport vehicle:

Area	Requirement
Interior	Smooth equipment that is easy to clean, and working lights in the passenger area
Body	Free of dents and rust that would affect safe operation
Markings	Clearly identify what the vehicle is used for
Climate	Working heat and air conditioning for the passenger area
Doors	All doors, latches, and handles in working order
Securement	Devices that fasten wheelchairs and stretchers securely, and safety restraints for every passenger
Crew	At least one licensed driver currently certified in CPR
Communication	A two-way radio or cell phone that reaches your central place of business

The inspection officer, named by the county manager, checks your vehicles, equipment, staff, records, premises, and procedures before each certificate or renewal and as often as quarterly. Use a vehicle inspection checklist to stay ready, and see stretcher van requirements for the equipment itself.

Rates, records, and conduct

Section 52.36 makes every operator file a rate schedule with the board, and the board approves it by resolution. You may charge only approved rates, and each vehicle carries a rate card showing the date the board approved them. Section 52.39 bars rebates, commissions, or discounts outside the schedule, and bars steering riders to any hospital, convalescent home, or other business.

Every certificate holder keeps a daily log of each trip: where it started, when the call came in, dispatch and arrival times, when you left for the destination and arrived, and the charges. Keep the logs at your central place of business for at least two years, where the inspection officer can review them. Falsifying a log is grounds to revoke your certificate, and breaking the article is a misdemeanor.

Who arranges rides in Gainesville

Medicaid

Alachua sits in Medicaid Region B, where the state’s waiver for July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2027 makes MTM Health the broker for members not enrolled in a plan. The state’s enrollment report for August 31, 2026 shows 28,861 Alachua members in comprehensive plans:

Health plan	Alachua members	Broker for its rides
Sunshine Health	14,942	Alivi
Humana	6,744	Modivcare
UnitedHealthcare Community Plan	5,754	MTM Health, since March 1, 2026
Simply Healthcare	832	Ride2MD
Florida Community Care	580	Ride2MD

For 2025, the waiver counted 29 vehicles in MTM’s Alachua network (13 cab and 16 lift). Modivcare, whose fee-for-service regions do not include Alachua, listed 25 at Alachua providers (12 ambulatory and 13 wheelchair) for members who come into the county for care. Neither table shows a stretcher vehicle in Alachua, a gap to raise when you apply to Alivi, Modivcare, or MTM Health.

Paratransit: two systems since March 2026

MV Transportation has been Alachua’s Community Transportation Coordinator since July 1, 2003, chosen through a request for proposals. The Commission for the Transportation Disadvantaged re-designated it effective July 1, 2023, for the five-year plan period, and its county list still named MV in September 2026. It is a private for-profit company, and its service plan for July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2028 says it provides all transportation services directly. The state’s report for fiscal year 2024-25, before the city’s change, shows the whole system in MV’s hands:

Measure	FY 2024-25
Total trips	63,757
ADA paratransit trips	47,497
Other paratransit trips	16,260
Medical trips	34,336
Trips by other operators	None
Vehicles	31
Drivers	24
Cost per trip	$49.85
Rider no-shows	8,906

On March 1, 2026, the City of Gainesville’s Regional Transit System brought ADA paratransit in-house as RTS Plus, using 21 city-owned vans and its own drivers. It serves riders within three-quarters of a mile of the bus routes, books one to 14 days ahead at 352-393-RIDE (7433), and charges $3 a trip. A $10,263,750 federal grant announced March 17, 2026 includes money to replace its aging paratransit vans. That ADA work, 47,497 trips in 2024-25, is now done by city drivers.

The service plan’s annual update sets MV’s Transportation Disadvantaged rates, effective July 1, 2024, at $45.61 per ambulatory trip, $78.18 per wheelchair trip, and $162.88 per stretcher trip. It caps a ride at one hour inside Gainesville and 90 minutes elsewhere in the county. It also says MTM contracted with MV to carry some Medicaid plan trips inside the county, and that MV runs scheduled dialysis return routes at Shands Kidney Center and Gainesville Kidney Center West. For how dialysis schedules shape a van’s day, see dialysis transportation.

What to do first

1. Call the county commission office at 352-264-6900 for the nonemergency transport provider application. Ask for the board’s current insurance amounts and who serves as the inspection officer.
2. Equip each vehicle to section 52.43 and schedule a CPR-certified licensed driver on every run.
3. Write your rate schedule and standard operating procedures before you file, since both are part of the application.
4. Plan for the timeline: 30 days for protests and up to 90 days for a decision, then a renewal every two years.
5. Enroll with Florida Medicaid and apply to Alivi, Modivcare, MTM Health, and Ride2MD.

North of Gainesville, Columbia County runs its own wheelchair and stretcher license on a three-year cycle, and its transit authority carries its residents to medical facilities in Alachua. Next door, Bradford County has its own coordinator, the Suwannee River Economic Council.