Pinellas County Medical Transportation: The Wheelchair and Stretcher Van Certificate and Who Sends Rides

Pinellas treats wheelchair and stretcher vans as part of its emergency medical services system. The county commission, sitting as the Emergency Medical Services Authority, certifies every company, and one set of rules covers St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Largo, and every other city in the county. The certificate is free, but it is not automatic: the county inspects your vans, reviews your records, and renews every company together each June. Florida’s statewide steps, Medicaid enrollment with AHCA and Level 2 screening for owners, are on the Florida guide.

Who needs a Pinellas County certificate

The special act that created the EMS Authority (Laws of Florida ch. 80-585, as amended, now article II of chapter 54) lets it set standards for, and certify, paratransit services for people who need wheelchair or stretcher transport (sec. 54-27(12)). The county code defines a wheelchair or stretcher vehicle as one built or equipped to carry a person in a reclining or non-reclining wheelchair, or on a stretcher, who does not need and is not likely to need medical attention on the way. Every company providing that service must hold a certificate of public convenience and necessity, called a COPCN (sec. 54-66).

Three rules shape how you work here:

• Countywide. Article III covers every incorporated and unincorporated area (sec. 54-58). A city may charge you an occupational license, meaning a business tax receipt, but no other license, permit, or fee (sec. 54-65).
• Buyers are bound too. It is a violation to provide wheelchair or stretcher van service without a certificate, and also to use a service that lacks one (sec. 54-66). A hospital, nursing home, or clinic that books a ride with an uncertified company is in violation.
• Inbound trips are exempt. A trip that starts outside Pinellas and ends inside it needs no Pinellas certificate (sec. 54-59). A Tampa company can drop a rider at a St. Petersburg dialysis center, but it needs a certificate to pick up there.

The article speaks only of wheelchair and stretcher service. An ambulatory sedan company should ask the division whether its trips fall under it.

How to get a certificate of public convenience and necessity

1. Fill in the application

Apply to the EMS and Fire Administration Division, which is moving certificate applications from paper to an electronic system. The application (Form A) names the service type (wheelchair, stretcher, or both), your entity type, your hours, and your business-hours and after-hours contacts, and it is signed before a notary. Attach:

1. The record keeping verification form (Form B).
2. A roster of every vehicle with unit number, tag, and VIN (Form C).
3. A roster of every driver (Form D), plus driver certification applications for new drivers.
4. Your certificate of incorporation and any fictitious name certificate.
5. A certificate of insurance showing vehicle liability and property damage limits for the highest level of service you offer.
6. Your retail rate schedule.

The insurance limits sit in section 8.2 of the county’s EMS rules and regulations, so ask the division for the current amounts before you bind a policy. See NEMT insurance requirements for how broker minimums add to county ones.

2. Set up your call records

Form B makes you initial each record keeping rule in section 8.1 of the county’s rules:

• Record every phone line that takes ride requests, cell phones included.
• Log each request with the date and time received, pickup and destination addresses, arrival time, the rider’s name, who ordered the trip, and the caller’s number.
• Keep written records of fax and email requests if you take them.
• Keep audio for at least 6 months and written or electronic dispatch records for at least 3 years, ready for inspection.

A small company answering calls on a personal cell phone needs a way to record those calls before it applies.

3. Pass the inspection and the vote

County EMS staff inspect every van on 13 criteria before a certificate issues, keep the inspection on file, and check your rosters, corporate papers, insurance, and rate forms. The medical control board, a panel of emergency physicians and hospital administrators, sets standards for wheelchair and stretcher van drivers and certifies them (sec. 54-60).

The commission then votes as the EMS Authority. You do not have to wait for June. In 2026 one company received a certificate effective January 20 and another one effective April 21. Each ran only to June 30 and was renewed in the June 16, 2026 batch. As of June 2026, the staff reports say there is no fee.

Who holds certificates now

The June 16, 2026 vote issued 17 certificates for July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027, two of them new. Nine companies hold wheelchair-only certificates, six hold wheelchair and stretcher, and two run stretcher vans only. The county’s transport page lists certified companies with their phone numbers and hours, many of them 24 hours a day. As of September 2026 it still shows the companies approved on July 22, 2025 and notes that others may have approvals pending.

Only eight of the 17 offer stretcher service. See what a stretcher van is and how to start a stretcher transportation business if you want to add that level.

Who sends the rides in Pinellas County

Pinellas and Pasco make up Medicaid Region C (section 409.966). MTM Health books rides for members who are not in a plan under the state’s waiver for July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2027. Its 2025 count listed 26 vehicles in Pinellas, 22 cab and 4 lift, and no stretcher vans. Plan members book through their plan’s broker. As of August 31, 2026:

Health plan	Pinellas members	Broker for its rides
Sunshine Health	33,909	Alivi
Simply Healthcare	30,806	Ride2MD
Humana	13,956	Modivcare
Florida Community Care	3,560	Ride2MD

The county had 82,302 plan members. Aetna had 9, UnitedHealthcare 22, and Community Care Plan 5, so their brokers matter little here. Simply’s 37% share is its highest in any Florida county, which makes Ride2MD as important as Alivi.

PSTA and state-funded trips

The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority, at 3201 Scherer Drive in St. Petersburg, is the Community Transportation Coordinator. No Florida county gave more Transportation Disadvantaged trips in fiscal 2024-25: 2,362,907, and 1,038,284 of them were medical. Most were bus rides on reduced-fare passes, but the door-to-door share is large.

Pinellas, fiscal 2024-25	Figure
Bus trips on passes	1,687,274
Paratransit trips	435,392
Rideshare and taxi trips	48,546
Trips carried by contracted operators	375,001
Contracted operators	8, four nonprofit and four for-profit
Coordination contractors	9, carrying 60,391 trips
Average cost of a paratransit trip	$24.51

No other county had as many transportation operators. That makes PSTA a real customer for a company that can win an operator contract; see subcontract NEMT trips for how those arrangements usually work.

Riders qualify with household income at or below 200% of the 2026 federal poverty level, $31,920 a year for one person, and pay an $11 monthly fare. PSTA’s TD Late Shift adds on-demand rides for $9 more a month for riders whose jobs start or end between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. PSTA also leads a same-day, cross-county door-to-door project with the Hillsborough and Pasco coordinators, served by taxis, wheelchair vans, and rideshare, which gave 7,180 trips to 333 riders in 2024-25.

The Local Coordinating Board, appointed and staffed by Forward Pinellas, oversees PSTA as coordinator. Its members include transportation providers, anyone may attend its meetings, and Forward Pinellas at 727-464-8250 has the schedule.

What to do first

1. Call the EMS and Fire Administration Division at 727-582-5750 for the application, the driver certification requirements, and the insurance limits in the county rules.
2. Set up call recording on every line you take trip requests on.
3. Get your vans ready for the county inspection, and file your vehicle and driver rosters.
4. Apply now rather than waiting for June. A mid-year certificate runs to June 30 and renews with the batch.
5. Enroll with Florida Medicaid and apply to Alivi and Ride2MD first, then Modivcare and MTM Health.
6. Introduce yourself to PSTA and the facilities that must use certified companies.

Across Tampa Bay, Hillsborough County licenses vans through its Tax Collector, charges fees, and needs two badged attendants on every stretcher van. To the north, Pasco County shares Medicaid Region C.