ABOVE: Daniel Espeland, Lori Espeland and Brandi Stohs stand with their fleet of vehicles, which they had used to transport disabled and elderly people to medical appointments as MN Para Transit. After closing their doors Aug. 31, Lori Espeland said the vehicles will be sold.

TRUMAN – MN Para Transit, which has served the community under one name or another for 30 years, closed its doors on Aug. 31.

Co-owner Daniel Espeland said the main focus was to provide medical transportation to people with physical disabilities who can’t use private vehicles or public transportation.

“Such as nursing home residents, hospital discharges to nursing homes, people to dialysis, even out of private homes,” he said. “We’ve done a lot of that type of transportation as well. It’s primarily to medical requirements.”

The business provided a special transportation service (STS), which could transport people as far as Mankato and Rochester for their medical appointments. Co-owner Lori Espeland said, as an STS, they could do door-through-door service while others can only do curb-to-curb.

“In other words, we go in, get them, and we will help load them into the van if they’re in a wheelchair,” she said. “We take them into the facility. They require more assistance than your everyday person.”

Curb to curb necessitates the person go to the vehicle under their own power or with their own assistance. The same goes for when they arrive at the medical facility. Lori Espeland said to their knowledge, there are no other STS providers in Martin County, only curb-to-curb options.

To the end, Assistant Office Manager Brandi Stohs said they assisted around 200 people per month. Having to reach out and inform people about the closure was an experience laced with uncertainty and fear.

“This despair,” Lori Espeland said. “‘What are we going to do?’ Shock, because these people we’ve worked with, Dan and I have been in this for almost 30 years. We have built a rapport with all of these people. We’ve worked with some of them for 20 years, and they’ve always relied on us. We’ve always been very considerate.”

This is not a sudden occurrence, however. Daniel Espeland said potential closure had been on their minds since 2016, due to rising costs and stagnant funds.

“We haven’t had an increase in our contractor funds since 2012,” he said. “Since 2012, our operating expenses have increased 278 percent. “It’s like you’re not getting a raise from your employer for 15 years. All your expenses go up. [We were] into our personal funds to keep it going a couple more years, hoping, legislatively, they’d start to hear it.”

For example, Daniel Espeland said vans that used to cost $60,000 now cost around $90,000 to replace. Insurance that was $12,400 in 2012 for vehicles is now $49,000.

As for other options, Lori Espeland said they have been advising people to contact their insurance providers and discuss their options with Martin County Health and Human Services. Daniel Espeland said insurance companies like Blue Cross and Ucare are mandated to make sure those insured can get to their appointments and provide rides if need be.

A medical transportation assessment was completed by Faribault and Martin County Health and Human Services (FMCHS) in July, using data collected from Fall and Winter 2024. It found that, of the people surveyed who currently use nonemergency medical transportation (NEMT), 74 percent need medical transportation for out-of-town appointments and 59 percent need transportation for in-town appointments.

Of these respondents, a majority said they were not able to access needed medical transportation at least once in the past year. Sixty-four percent said it was due to not being able to access a provider.

The report listed MN Para Transit as the primary local NEMT provider. It listed Johwar Transportation and Blue Earth Taxi as occasionally providing rides for Faribault and Martin County residents to reach Mankato medical appointments. For Rochester, Sunflower Transportation also provides rides on occasion to residents of both counties.

FMCHS Executive Director Chera Sevcik said currently, the plan is for the State of Minnesota to contract with a provider to take over NEMT transportation for the area in July 2026.

She said this timeline is subject to change.

“Most counties in region 9 are experiencing the same challenges we are seeing locally, and waiting until July 2026 is not ideal,” Sevcik said.

Services currently providing transportation include Crystal’s Taxi Cab, which provides rides within a 50-mile radius of Fairmont and can be contacted at 507-230-1007, and Care Cab, which offers NEMT services anywhere in Minnesota and can be contacted at 320-253-7729 or found at https://www.carecabmn.com/.

For more information, or to request a list of all providers for Martin County medical transportation, call the FMCHS Martin County Office at (507) 238-4757 or the Faribault County Office at (507) 526-3265.