On a recent afternoon, a veteran who had an appointment with a primary care provider was noted to be sitting in the waiting room on his mobile scooter. The veteran had contracted a ride through his Medicare HMO and had been dropped off earlier in the day for his appointment. When he finished his appointment, he was not able to contact his transportation provider, who was supposed to be waiting in the parking lot. He found out they had left, and he had been attempting to contact the transportation company to have someone come and take him home, with no success.

It was already after 4 pm at that time, and Jean, the RN for PACT team 18, was one of only a few nurses left in the building. This veteran was not her patient, but his PACT RN had already left for the day. After attempting to contact the transport company three different times, she waited with the veteran through one driver who never arrived, two non-English speaking drivers who could not understand what needed to be done, and a driver who was unable to seatbelt the veteran into the vehicle due to the veteran's size. The veteran was still stuck without a ride. Jean contacted the AOD at the main hospital, who advised her there was nothing they could do because the veteran did not qualify for beneficiary travel.

Jean stayed at the clinic with two security officers and a social worker until after 8 pm that night and finally ended up calling the non-emergency number to Fire and Rescue. The veteran was transported to the VA ER, where he had to spend the night awaiting transportation the next morning. Jean went above and beyond to stay over 3 hours late and make every attempt to get this veteran back home. Even though she was not able to get him home that night, he was warm, safe, and cared for.