Kicked off the "Make Room for Patients Initiative"
to encourage caregivers to leave their cars at home
so there were more parking spots for patients. This
effort was put on hold due to COVID-19, since there
are fewer caregivers commuting regularly.
Partnered with "Missoula in Motion", a program of
the Transportation Division of the City of Missoula's
Development Services founded in 1997. Missoula In
Motion (MIM) encourages the use of sustainable
transportation options available to individuals and
workplaces through fiscally responsible strategies
and best practice programs.
o In partnership with MIM, caregivers enter
their commute trip into the program's
software, which calculates number of miles,
carbon emissions prevented, calories
burned, and other metrics. For each
alternative transportation action logged, MIM donates $0.50 to St. Patrick green team, called Green
4 Good (G4G).
o "Missoula in Motion" also provides incentives and prizes throughout the year such as free beer,
water bottles, and head lamps for alternative transportation.
o A resource called the "Trip planner" available through MIM offers caregivers carpool and biking
route options.
o The partnership with MIM has increased program participation by 14 percent.
o Through the partnership with MIM, the hospital will soon receive new bike parking with a bike rack
and repair stand outside a new bike cage.
The grant funding for the repair stand (and the previous installations of bike racks both in
front of the Broadway Building and in the bike shelter) comes from MIM and the City of
Missoula's Bicycle Pedestrian Program by way of a federal Congestion Mitigation and Air
Quality (CMAQ) grant.
Each quarter, commuters choosing to bike, walk, carpool, or vanpool to work are highlighted in a newsletter.
Please note: Carpooling and vanpooling are not currently encouraged due to COVID-19.
For more information, contact Sarah Johnson at Sarah.Johnson4@providence.org or Alison Kane at
Alison.Kane2@providence.org.
Employee commuting program at Providence St. Peter in Washington
To encourage the cultural shift toward decreasing single occupancy commuting and increasing vanpools, carpools,
walking, biking, telecommuting, and use of public transportation, Providence St. Peter Hospital introduced an
employee commuting program.
The program focuses on communication – engaging caregivers on site, talking one-on-one, speaking on daily
news forums via internet, and publishing a monthly commute-trip-reduction spotlight where individuals are
highlighted. See examples of spotlight articles here.
Caregivers can use the vanpool program available through "Inner City Transit", a public transit program.
o The program allows businesses to put a business logo on their van to make it more official, fun and
engaging. For instance, "Providence hospital caregiver bus."
o Bus fare is free on Inner City Transit. The St. Peter team is currently reaching out to see if they can
add a loop closer to the hospital, which would likely increase ridership.
Key caregiver engagement initiatives around transportation include:
o Installing secure bike lockers that fit and lock a whole bike.
o Increasing awareness about "park and ride" or "park and
walk" options at local grocery stores.
At St. Patrick Hospital, caregivers who use alternative methods of
transportation are highlighted in newsletter articles. Here, Mary
Werner bikes to work.
