When a patient needs to move from one facility to another, the transfer itself becomes part of the care plan, and it has to be handled like clinical work, not a taxi run. One United EMS provides inter-facility transport across the entire New York City and Northern New Jersey region, from a teaching hospital in Washington Heights to a rehab center in Hackensack, from a Brooklyn step down unit to a skilled nursing facility in the Bronx, and across the Hudson when the receiving bed is in another state. We move patients bed to bed at the level of care the transfer requires, whether that is a BLS ambulance for a stable patient, an ALS unit for someone on a cardiac monitor or IV drip, or a critical care transport team for a ventilated, ICU level patient who needs continuous clinical eyes the whole way. Our crews are certified EMTs and paramedics, our critical care transport runs with a critical care nurse on board, our 24/7 dispatch coordinates directly with discharge planners and case managers, and our GPS tracked fleet is hospital contracted and ready around the clock. Tell us the sending facility, the receiving facility, and the patient's clinical picture, and we match the right crew, the right equipment, and the right timing to get them there safely.
24/7 Inter-Facility Transport Across NYC and Northern New Jersey
An inter-facility transfer rarely waits for business hours. A bed opens at 11pm, a patient is accepted to a higher level of care at 3am, a step down unit needs a stretcher out by morning to free the room. One United EMS runs inter-facility transport around the clock, every day of the year, with a staffed dispatch center that answers when a transfer center, a charge nurse, or a discharge planner calls. We coordinate hospital-to-hospital transfer, hospital to skilled nursing facility, nursing home to hospital, and rehab to home runs across all five boroughs of New York City and throughout Northern New Jersey. Because we operate region wide, we can stage the right unit near the sending facility, whether that is in Lower Manhattan, Downtown Brooklyn, the South Bronx, Jersey City, Newark, or Hackensack, and keep the transfer on schedule instead of leaving a patient packaged and waiting. When the call is time sensitive, our dispatch confirms the level of care, the equipment, and the estimated arrival on the same call, so the floor knows exactly when the crew is coming and what they are bringing.Levels of Inter-Facility Care: BLS, ALS, and Critical Care Transport
Not every transfer needs the same crew, and matching the level of care to the patient is the single most important decision in inter-facility transport. A BLS ambulance, staffed by certified EMTs, moves stable patients who need stretcher transport and basic monitoring but no advanced interventions, which covers a large share of routine hospital to rehab and nursing home transfers. An ALS ambulance adds a paramedic and the ability to manage a cardiac monitor, IV drip, advanced airway, and medications during the trip, which is the right call for a patient who is stable but fragile, on drips, or at risk of deteriorating. Critical care transport, sometimes run as a mobile intensive care unit or specialty care transport, is for the highest acuity patients: those on a ventilator, multiple drips, an arterial line, or continuous critical care monitoring, who need a higher level of care than a standard ALS crew can provide. Our critical care transport runs with a critical care nurse alongside the paramedic so ICU level care continues without interruption from the sending bed to the receiving bed. If you are not sure which level a patient needs, tell our dispatch the clinical picture and we will help you match it, because sending the wrong level either risks the patient or wastes a resource the next transfer needs.How an Inter-Facility Transfer Works: From Bedside to Destination
Most providers in this region never explain what actually happens during a transfer, so here is the full workflow we run on every inter-facility transport. It starts with the referral: a discharge planner, case manager, transfer center, or charge nurse contacts our 24/7 dispatch with the patient, the sending and receiving facilities, the clinical picture, and the requested time. Next comes medical necessity verification and level of care matching, where we confirm whether the patient needs BLS, ALS, or critical care, and whether equipment such as a ventilator, cardiac monitor, or bariatric stretcher is required. We then dispatch the right crew and unit, confirm the estimated arrival, and stage near the sending facility. At the bedside, our crew takes a clinical handoff from the nursing staff, reviews orders, medications, drips, and any precautions, and performs a bed-to-bed transfer onto our stretcher using a powerload stretcher to protect both the patient and the crew. During transport, the crew monitors the patient at the appropriate level, maintains drips and devices, and stays in two way contact with dispatch. On arrival, they deliver a destination report to the receiving facility, hand off the patient bed to bed, and document the run. That structure is what keeps a transfer clinical from start to finish instead of a gap in the patient's care.Hospitals, Nursing Homes, and Rehab Facilities We Serve Across the Region
We run inter-facility transport to and from the major hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and rehabilitation centers across New York City and Northern New Jersey, and we know the loading docks, the patient transfer entrances, and the building access at each. In Manhattan that includes NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia in Washington Heights, Weill Cornell and Mount Sinai on the Upper East Side, NYU Langone, Bellevue, and Lenox Hill, along with skilled nursing and rehab facilities such as Isabella in Washington Heights, the Henry J. Carter Skilled Nursing Facility, and Mary Manning Walsh. In Brooklyn we transfer to and from Maimonides Medical Center, NYU Langone Hospital Brooklyn, SUNY Downstate, Kingsbrook Jewish, and NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist, plus rehab centers including the Boro Park Center and Haym Salomon Home. In the Bronx we cover the Montefiore campuses, Jacobi, and Lincoln, with transfers to facilities such as Concourse Rehabilitation and Grand Manor. In Northern New Jersey we serve Hackensack University Medical Center, Jersey City Medical Center, Christ Hospital, University Hospital and Newark Beth Israel in Newark, with rehab and nursing partners including CareOne at Wellington, Regent Care Center, and the Alaris Health centers in Jersey City. If your facility is not named here, we almost certainly serve it. Give us the sending and receiving addresses and we will confirm right away.Our Ambulance Fleet, Equipment, and Clinical Crews
An inter-facility transfer is only as safe as the unit and the crew that show up, so we built our fleet and staffing for exactly this work. Our GPS-tracked fleet of BLS and ALS ambulances carries powerload stretchers that lift and secure patients with the press of a control instead of a manual lift, which protects fragile patients and prevents crew injury during the bed-to-bed move. ALS and critical care transport units carry cardiac monitoring, IV pumps for maintaining drips, advanced airway equipment, and the ability to run a ventilator during transport, so a patient on continuous support never loses it in transit. For larger patients we operate bariatric capable equipment, and for the highest acuity moves our mobile intensive care unit configuration carries the monitoring and infusion capability of an ICU on wheels. Every crew is staffed by certified EMTs and paramedics, and our critical care transport adds a critical care nurse for ICU level patients. Our units run two way communication with dispatch the entire trip, and the GPS tracking lets a sending facility or a transfer center know exactly where the patient is at any moment. We are Licensed & Insured, and we run the equipment and staffing a real transfer demands rather than the bare minimum.Working With Discharge Planners and Case Managers
The person who actually books most inter-facility transports is not the patient, it is a discharge planner, case manager, or transfer center coordinator who needs the move to happen cleanly and on time so a bed turns over and a patient keeps moving through their care plan. We built our service around that reality. Discharge planners and case managers get a direct line to our 24/7 dispatch, a single point of contact who confirms the level of care, the equipment, and the arrival window on the same call, and crews who know how to take a clean clinical handoff and deliver a proper destination report. We coordinate the timing around bed availability on both ends so a patient is not packaged and left waiting, and we keep the booking facility updated through GPS tracking and two way crew comms if anything shifts. For facilities that move volume, we set up hospital-contracted arrangements so transfers run on a known process instead of a fresh negotiation every time. The goal is simple: make the planner's job one phone call, and make the transfer the part of the discharge they never have to chase.Inter-Facility Transport Cost, Insurance, and Medical Necessity
Cost and coverage are the questions most providers in this region quietly avoid, so here is a clear answer. The price of an inter-facility transfer depends on the level of care, BLS costing less than ALS, and ALS less than critical care transport, plus the distance and any specialty equipment such as a ventilator or bariatric stretcher. On the coverage side, the key concept is medical necessity. Medicare and most insurers cover ambulance inter-facility transport when the transfer is medically necessary, meaning the patient's condition requires the level of monitoring and care that only an ambulance can safely provide and other transport would endanger their health, and when the patient is moving to a facility that can deliver a needed higher level of care or a required service the sending facility cannot. The documentation matters: a physician certification statement and the clinical record supporting medical necessity are what determine coverage, which is why we work directly with the sending facility's case management to make sure the paperwork lines up before the wheels turn. For private pay and facility billed transfers, we provide a clear quote up front. Whatever the payer, we will tell you honestly how the coverage works and help your team assemble what medical necessity requires rather than leave you guessing.Long-Distance and Out-of-State Inter-Facility Transfers
Not every receiving bed is across town. Patients in New York City and Northern New Jersey are regularly accepted to specialty centers, facilities the family prefers, or skilled nursing beds outside the immediate metro, and those longer moves still need the same clinical continuity as a cross town transfer. One United EMS handles long distance and out of state inter-facility transport at every level of care, from a stable BLS run to a critical care transport with a critical care nurse on board for the full distance. We coordinate the timing, the route, the rest and monitoring plan, and the handoff at the receiving facility so a patient who travels several hours arrives with the same level of care they left with. Because we are region wide and run a GPS-tracked fleet, the booking facility and the family can know where the patient is throughout the trip. Whether the destination is a rehab hospital upstate, a specialty center in Pennsylvania or Connecticut, or a facility nearer family in another state, we keep the transfer clinical end to end instead of treating distance as an excuse to drop the standard of care.Coverage and Routing Across NYC and Northern New Jersey
An inter-facility transfer crosses real geography, and the route is part of keeping the patient stable and on time. Our dispatch knows the corridors that actually move patients across this region and plans the timing around their real conditions, not a generic estimate. In Manhattan we account for the congestion pricing zone below 60th Street, the FDR Drive and West Side Highway, and the one way avenue grids and tight loading zones around hospitals like Mount Sinai and NYU Langone. In Brooklyn we route around the BQE, the Belt Parkway, and Ocean Parkway. In the Bronx we plan for the Cross Bronx Expressway, the Major Deegan, and the Bruckner. Crossing into Northern New Jersey, we time the Holland Tunnel, Lincoln Tunnel, and George Washington Bridge approaches, then move on the New Jersey Turnpike Extension and the Pulaski Skyway toward Jersey City, Interstate 280 and Route 21 around Newark, and Route 4, Route 17, and Interstate 80 around Hackensack. For a fragile or ventilated patient, smooth routing and accurate timing are not a convenience, they are part of the clinical plan, and our region wide knowledge of these corridors is exactly why facilities on both sides of the Hudson rely on us for transfers.Why Facilities Across the Region Choose One United EMS for Transfers
Facilities keep calling us for inter-facility transport for the same reasons every time. We answer 24/7 with a staffed dispatch that confirms the level of care and the arrival window on the first call, so a planner is not left chasing an ETA. We match the crew to the patient honestly, BLS, ALS, or critical care transport, instead of upselling or sending an under equipped unit. Our certified EMTs and paramedics, and our critical care nurse on critical care runs, take clean clinical handoffs and deliver proper destination reports, so the receiving facility gets a real report and not a shrug. Our GPS-tracked fleet and two way crew comms mean a sending facility always knows where its patient is. We are hospital-contracted and built to run volume on a known process, and we are Licensed & Insured. We are reliable on the timing that keeps a bed turning over and a patient moving through their care, and we treat every transfer, from a routine BLS run to a ventilated ICU move, as clinical work from bedside to destination. That combination of speed, the right level of care, and reliability is why discharge planners and case managers across New York City and Northern New Jersey trust us with their transfers.How to Request an Inter-Facility Transport in Three Steps
Booking a transfer with us is built to be one clean phone call. Step one, tell our 24/7 dispatch the essentials: the sending facility and unit, the receiving facility, the patient's clinical picture, any equipment needs such as a ventilator, cardiac monitor, IV drips, or bariatric stretcher, and the requested time. Step two, we confirm the level of care, BLS, ALS, or critical care transport, verify what medical necessity and the receiving facility require, and give you an estimated arrival and a quote where applicable on the same call. Step three, we stage the right unit near the sending facility, our crew takes the bedside handoff and performs the bed-to-bed transfer, and we deliver the patient and a destination report to the receiving facility while you track the trip through our GPS-tracked fleet. Discharge planners, case managers, transfer centers, charge nurses, and families can all start the request. For facilities that move regular volume, we set up a hospital-contracted process so future transfers run on a known workflow. Call our dispatch line or send the details through our contact form, and we will get the right crew moving.
