By SANDRA J PENNECKE
By Sandra J. Pennecke
Correspondent
As Darwin Byrd sat in a medical waiting room, he noticed an elderly patient sitting there as well. She was waiting for her transportation back home after an early morning appointment.
That lack of timeliness was something he noticed a lot with local medical transportation services.
As time wore on into the afternoon, the woman suddenly collapsed and was rushed into the emergency room.
“She went into diabetic shock. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I thought I can do this better,” said Byrd, who worked in the civilian sector’s medical industry following retirement as a Navy corpsman.
So he decided to open his own transportation service and offer the highest pinnacle of care and compassion.
Byrd, along with his wife, Tribion, and longtime friends, Earl and Linda Henderson started Accent Transport Services, Inc. in January.
Tribion Byrd, of Great Bridge, is a retired Navy payroll dispensing clerk and Earl Henderson, who lives in Virginia Beach, retired from the Navy as a senior chief after 26 years. Linda Henderson boasts more than 30 years of work experience in customer service-related fields.
“Everybody brings something to the table,” said Linda Henderson. “But, our ultimate goal is the same,” said Tribion Byrd.
What they offer is a sense of professionalism, punctuality, courtesy and integrity; all of the factors Darwin Byrd felt were missing and needed.
“We did research and found that people want reliability first, safety second, professionalism third and lastly price,” he explained.
Each underwent background checks, urinalysis, took defensive driving classes, CPR and first aid, ordered uniforms and ID badges and trained with the Alzheimer’s Association, Senior Services and other local institutions. “We’ve had training on most things that most people wouldn’t think of,” said Darwin Byrd.
Accent offers their door-to-door non-emergency medical transport service to private parties, community groups, hospitals, clinics and medical groups, physical therapy clinics, dental offices, nursing homes, dialysis, cancer treatment, rehabilitation and adult day care centers throughout Hampton Roads. Their fleet of vehicles includes wheelchair accessible vans, a sports utility vehicle and 15- passenger van.
Stephanie Spruill, office assistant for orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Tommy Osborne said, “Accent transports a lot of our patients. They offer personalized care and it’s nice to have a company that, for a change, picks patients up in a timely manner.”
That’s why Michael Paris, a Virginia Beach resident, relies on Accent for transportation to and from his dialysis treatments three days a week.
“I used another company in the past and they were terrible. They’d pick me up when they felt like it and sometimes I’d be late for an appointment. My son found Accent and I thank God he did. I know that they’ll take good care of me,” said Paris.
“We establish a relationship and put people at ease. When someone calls us they don’t have to worry about transportation anymore,” said Darwin Byrd, “It’s not about us, it’s about them and offering peace of mind.”
“We see a lot of illness, but we get so much out of it. Life is a journey and after all at some point, any of us could be on the other side,” added Linda Henderson.
Sandra J. Pennecke, [email protected]
Accent Transport Services, Inc.
Where 124 Robert Hall Court, Suite 101
Chesapeake, VA 23324
Phone 605-0605
Visit www.accent-transport.com
Hours 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday – Saturday
Originally published by BY SANDRA J. PENNECKE.
(c) 2008 Virginian – Pilot. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.
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