Waka Ora Health Shuttle team leader and Oamaru Hato Hone St John area chairwoman Maria Dickie said since October last year the Waka Ora Health Shuttle had made 126 return trips to Dunedin and 12 one-way trips, backed by a team of 12 volunteer drivers to get people to their appointments.
St John had, since 2023, looked into the feasibility of offering a health shuttle in Oamaru and the service was launched last year after community frustration and demand for a "much-needed" service, Mrs Dickie said.
The shuttle had been going "very well", she said.
"We’ve got a really great team who go above and beyond at the moment — they’re a really dedicated bunch of people and they’ll put anything aside to make sure people get to their appointments."
The Waitaki District Health Trust gave $100,000 over three years to support the service.
The koha-based shuttle runs from Oamaru to Dunedin, Monday to Friday, and can seat five people.
The service covered all health or wellbeing-related appointments in the city including at Dunedin Hospital, Mercy Hospital, private clinics, the dental school and any eye appointments or day surgery, Mrs Dickie said.
It departed from Oamaru at 9am and left Dunedin Hospital at 2.30pm, ensuring a manageable schedule for both clients and volunteer drivers, she said.
When there was available space they were also able to transport caregivers or family members along with clients to their appointments, Mrs Dickie said.
Before the service was introduced a community shuttle was run by Oamaru resident Trevor Goodin, paid for by donations from local groups including Observatory Village, the Rotary Club of Oamaru and Grey Power.
Mrs Dickie said despite early criticism from Mr Goodin that the new St John service was not fulfilling the "pick-up requirements" of the community, the organisation was determined to make sure its service was inclusive.
"There’s been a lot of misconceptions out there that we’re cancelling, or we’re not running, or we’re leaving people behind.
"We’ve never done any of those things.
"Although the service is a ride share and not a door-to-door thing, from day 1 we have been fluid with our pick-up points and picked people up where needed due to mobility issues."
Mrs Dickie said clients also accepted how the ride-share system worked.
"You might have to go a little early to your appointment, because other people that are booked in may have appointments at 10.30am, but yours is at 1pm," she said.
There were three pick-up stops in Oamaru — the North End, central and the South Hill — and the shuttle did make stops along State Highway1 including in Palmerston, Waikouaiti, Hampden, Herbert, Waitati and Maheno, she said.
"If you tell the hospital you’re on the Waka Ora shuttle, they will work on putting you between 10.30am and 2.30pm and they do that for all the other health shuttles from other regions."
Dunedin Hospital’s communication to people about the shuttle had led to more visibility for the service and better appointment wait times, Mrs Dickie said.
"We had one lovely gentleman who had an eye appointment and he was done in an hour and he would normally wait for up to three or four hours.
"He was pretty chuffed."
Volunteer driver Sandra Marlow said the hospital was also "really great" to work with in co-ordinating wheelchair access for the shuttle’s clients.
Another volunteer driver, David Barkman, said the shuttle clients "all look out for each other" and that was a really positive thing about the role.
Mrs Dickie said they were always on the lookout for more volunteer drivers.
Meanwhile, Mr Goodin said his Oamaru-Palmerston Community Shuttle service would continue its trial period until April 4 this year.
Mr Goodin said his service was not about competing with St John but about helping to "fill a gap" in the community.
"The community shuttle will now run to Palmerston only on Tuesdays, and on Thursdays and Saturdays we will run to Dunedin," he said.
