Travel Support When Someone Is Hospitalized Away From Home
When a patient is well enough to leave hospital but needs support for the journey, a Medical Escort or Travel Companion travels with them home, or to a hospital closer to home, from another province or country.
Last updated: October 10, 2026
Portage brings people hospitalized away from home back to where they live by commercial airline, what hospitals and insurers call medical repatriation: Canadians coming home from the United States, Mexico, or overseas, and visitors and workers hospitalized in Alberta going home to their own province or country. A Case Coordinator plans the trip, a Medical Escort or Travel Companion travels with the patient, and intake confirms which fits.
What makes travel harder when someone is hospitalized away from home?
Getting from a bed in Phoenix, Puerto Vallarta, or Calgary to a bed at home is a problem most families have never solved.
Medical clearance. Airlines ask for it before a recently hospitalized passenger flies, and the treating team has to supply the information.
The journey itself. Oxygen, a wheelchair, medications on a schedule, and a connection through a large airport all need planning before the discharge date.
The hours in between. Someone capable has to be with the patient from the hospital door to the destination, and the family is often a time zone away.
Where our journeys run.
Much of our work is within Canada, between provinces: a patient hospitalized in Alberta going home to British Columbia or Newfoundland, or a Canadian in a hospital in Ontario coming home to Calgary. Internationally, most journeys are between Canada and the United States or Mexico, including the places many Canadians spend the winter, and we have supported travel between Canada and France, Germany, Morocco, Nigeria, and Japan. In every case we handle the airline medical clearance and work with the hospital staff at each end.
How does Portage help?
Your Case Coordinator speaks with you and, with the patient's consent, the treating team, to confirm the patient's condition has stabilized and to assess together whether a commercial flight is the right way home. If it is, we obtain the airline's medical clearance, arrange oxygen or equipment the trip needs, plan connections at the patient's pace, and arrange ground transport at both ends.
Medical Escort
A regulated healthcare professional travels with the patient door to door, administers medications, monitors their condition, and hands over to the receiving team or the family on arrival. The usual fit for someone leaving hospital.
Travel Companion
An experienced caregiver travels with the patient door to door, provides hands-on personal care, manages bags and connections, and makes sure medications aren't forgotten. The fit when recovery is well under way.
What should we prepare
Your Case Coordinator will ask for the hospital and a contact on the care team, the discharge date the team is working toward, a summary of the patient's condition and current medications, any oxygen or mobility equipment in use, where the journey should end (home, another hospital, or a care residence), and the patient's passport if the trip crosses a border. If you don't have all of this yet, call anyway; we'll tell you what to ask the hospital for.
Guides for families with someone hospitalized away from home
Questions when someone is hospitalized away from home
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No. Journeys run in both directions, and many are within Canada, between provinces. Internationally, most are between Canada and the United States or Mexico, and we have supported travel between Canada and France, Germany, Morocco, Nigeria, and Japan. We also take visitors and workers hospitalized in Alberta home to their own country or province. Either way, the Case Coordinator handles the medical clearance and the hospital staff at each end, and the Escort or Companion travels with the patient.
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No. Most patients we bring home are still recovering; what matters is that their condition has stabilized and that a commercial flight is safe for them. We assess that with you and the treating team before booking. If a commercial flight isn't the right answer, we say so and advise the best alternative, including when an air ambulance is the safer choice.
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Yes. Many of our journeys are hospital to hospital, or from a large treatment centre to a care residence or hospital closer to the patient's family. Your Case Coordinator arranges the receiving end in advance, including ground transport from the airport, so the patient arrives to a team that is expecting them and the handover happens in person.
Let’s plan the journey
Tell us about the traveller and the trip. We'll recommend the level of support, plan the journey, and have a Travel Companion ready to go.