The Diehl Family and Friends Endowed Fund for Transportation is designed to remove transportation barriers by directly supporting families who need assistance traveling to and from medical appointments. The fund provides rideshare vouchers that will allow families to access reliable transportation when they need it most.

 

• The average round-trip cost for transportation to UPMC Children’s is approximately $55.
• This initiative directly alleviates the financial burden on families, ensuring they can prioritize health over costs.

 

A Mission Rooted in Family and Community

The Diehl family, deeply invested in both healthcare and automotive services, is committed not only to donating but also to actively raising funds to address this healthcare disparity. The donations collected through this fund will:

  

• • Improve access to care for children and families.
  • Elevate treatment and research opportunities by ensuring patients receive the necessary follow-ups and interventions.
  • Address urgent healthcare needs by ensuring that transportation is no longer a deciding factor in missed appointments.

 

Every donation contributes directly to changing the trajectory of a child’s health, providing them with access to world-class healthcare that would otherwise be unreachable.

 

Addressing Barriers to Health

Families facing economic challenges often grapple with hard decisions. For many, choosing between paying for groceries or utility bills and arranging transportation to critical medical appointments becomes a painful reality. A lack of reliable transportation can perpetuate cycles of healthcare inequity, particularly for low-income families.

  

Children cannot reach their health potential, excel in education, or thrive economically if their basic needs go unmet. Access to reliable transportation is one such essential need. For those without access to public transport or other options, the costs of getting to the hospital often place healthcare out of reach.

  

Through this endowment, Katie and Matt Diehl aim to directly confront this obstacle and ensure that every child has the opportunity to receive the care they deserve.

 

A Personal Connection to the Cause

As parents of UPMC Children’s patients, Katie and Matt understand firsthand how important access to medical care is for a child’s well-being. As owners of an automotive dealership, they also know the role that reliable transportation plays in everyday life.

  

“We’ve been fortunate in our own medical journey to have easy access to the experts at UPMC Children’s. Not every family is as lucky,” the Diehls share. “For many, transportation is a cost not covered by insurance, and public or reliable transportation isn’t always an option. That’s where we hope to make a difference.”

  

Their personal experiences have driven their passion to create a fund that removes the transportation barrier and ensures that families can get their children to appointments without the added stress of how to get there.

 

UPMC Children's Commitment to Access

UPMC Children’s believes that access to care is a fundamental part of their mission. It’s not enough to provide world-class medical services—patients need to be able to get to the hospital to benefit from those services. With the Diehl Family and Friends Endowed Fund for Transportation, UPMC Children’s is closer to ensuring that no family has to forgo critical healthcare due to transportation challenges.