Medical Escort Services
When a journey needs clinical care, your Medical Escort brings it along — across Canada and around the world.
What is a Medical Escort
A Medical Escort is a regulated healthcare professional who provides clinical care during travel — on commercial flights and ground transportation — for someone whose medical needs go beyond companionship. Portage plans and manages the entire journey from bedside to destination, while your Medical Escort delivers hands-on clinical care from door to door.
Returning home after illness or injury
Bringing someone home after an illness or injury is one of the most common reasons clients contact us — but home isn't always the destination. Sometimes the journey is to a hospital closer to home, a rehabilitation centre, or a care facility that's the right next step. Wherever the traveller is coming from — another province, another country, or a specialized treatment centre — we coordinate the clinical and logistical sides of the journey so the care that started at the bedside continues to the destination.
Who is this for
Travellers leaving hospital — for home, or for a hospital or care facility closer to home
Travellers moving between hospitals, rehabilitation centres, or long-term care facilities
Travellers who require oxygen or specialized medical equipment
People who have recently experienced a stroke or other neurological event
Travellers who need medication administration or clinical monitoring during the journey
People with complex medical conditions that call for experienced clinical judgement
Stabilized travellers who simply need clinical supervision for the journey itself
How the journey works
Behind every trip are two roles: a Portage Case Coordinator, who plans the journey and manages the logistics, and your Medical Escort — the front line, focused entirely on the traveller's care.
Before the day of travel, every journey begins with a clinical assessment of the traveller's needs. From there, your Case Coordinator books the flights and manages the logistics — airline medical clearance, required equipment, seating and oxygen arrangements, route planning, and timing — while our team reviews the medical information and plans for the travel environment and for situations that could arise en route.
Bedside to gate Your Medical Escort meets the traveller at the hospital bedside, at home, or at a care facility, and manages their care through every step of departure — ground transportation, check-in, security, and boarding.
Throughout the journey your Medical Escort provides the clinical care the journey was planned around — monitoring, medications, and any medical equipment — along with the practical support every traveller needs, and updates family and the care team at agreed points. If plans change mid-journey, your Medical Escort manages the traveller's care while your Case Coordinator handles rebookings and logistics behind the scenes.
On arrival Your Medical Escort stays with the traveller until the journey is complete — admitted at the receiving facility, settled at home, or in the care of their family or care team.
Experienced Clinicians
Medical Escort trips are staffed by qualified clinical professionals matched to the case, including Registered Nurses and Advanced Care Paramedics — each with extensive experience caring for medically complex patients, and prepared for the realities of delivering care in transit. Every journey is planned and delivered under clinical oversight.
We work closely with hospitals, discharge planners, insurers, assistance companies, case managers, and families, so everyone understands the travel plan before departure.
Commercial travel is what we specialize in
Many people assume that a medically complex traveller automatically needs an air ambulance. In reality, many travellers can fly safely on a scheduled commercial flight with the right planning, equipment, and clinical support — and that is what Portage specializes in. It is a safe, practical, and significantly more cost-effective alternative to air ambulance transport.
Whether a particular traveller can be safely managed on a commercial flight is a question we answer through our intake process, before anything is booked. If the answer is yes, we plan the journey around it. If it isn't, we'll tell you, and we'll advise on the best way to get the traveller where they need to be.
When a commercial cabin isn't the right environment
Some travellers can't be safely or comfortably managed in a commercial cabin, but don't need an air ambulance either. For them, ground transportation with the same clinical care is frequently the right answer — the journey takes longer, but the traveller gets where they need to be, safely and with a clinician beside them the whole way.
Ground is a mode available within both levels of support, for shorter journeys and by preference as well.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
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The dividing line is whether the journey needs clinical care, not how frail the traveller is. If practical, personal support is all a journey requires, we'll recommend a Travel Companion — you should never pay for clinical care a trip doesn't need.
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Often, yes. Airlines have medical clearance processes for travellers with clinical needs, and your Case Coordinator manages that clearance, the equipment arrangements, and the airline requirements as part of planning the journey.
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We'll tell you during intake, before anything is booked, and advise on the alternatives. For many travellers the answer is ground transportation with the same clinical care — often a better fit than an air ambulance, and available for journeys well beyond a short drive.
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When commercial travel is appropriate, a Medical Escort on a scheduled flight is significantly more cost-effective than an air ambulance. Every journey is quoted individually, based on the itinerary and the level of clinical support required — contact us for a consultation.
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Journeys between hospitals, rehabilitation centres, and long-term care facilities are among the most common trips we make — within a province, across Canada, or internationally. Not every transfer involves complex care; many travellers are stable and simply need clinical supervision for the journey.
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Yes. Portage supports journeys within Canada, to and from the United States, and worldwide — including travellers coming home, or moving to care closer to home, after an illness or injury abroad.
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The more notice, the better the planning — but illness and injury don't come with warning, and we can often help on shorter timelines. Reach out as soon as you know the traveller needs to move.
Does your journey need a Medical Escort?
If you're unsure whether your family member needs a Medical Escort or Travel Companion, we're happy to talk through the situation and recommend the right level of support.