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Introducing EZ Care and EZ Ryder; Transforming health transport and car rental services

Sep 27, 2024 | 4:06 PM

Eliza Estrella’s entrepreneurial spirit is one of compassion and personal experience that began in the health care industry. After years working as a travel nurse, she started a company called EZ Care that recruits nurses and other health care professionals to rural and remote locations in northern Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Yukon.

While the service certainly helped to fill gaps in access to healthcare for residents in those locations, Estrella noticed there were still some complications – including access to reliable transportation for the travel nurses themselves.

“EZ Care provides accommodation to make the contracts as smooth as possible for the travel nurses, but I noticed they struggled to commute from once place to another,” said Estrella. “So, I started EZ Ryder – a sister business of EZ Care – to provide those travel nurses access to reliable rental vehicles.”

The healthcare professionals are picked up by EZ Ryder from the airport, transported to their northern destinations, and then keep the rental vehicle for the duration of their contract, whether that’s two weeks or two months.

“I saw too many of our nurses travelling with unreliable vehicles. Some of them even stalled in the middle of winter. So, all of the vehicles that we rent are brand new,” said Estrella.

EZ Ryder has no hidden fees and promise to beat the lowest competitor price. Having rental vehicles dedicated to travelling health care professionals also means they never have to worry about availability

“I saw a pattern where the need for cars in Saskatchewan was very much in demand and the regular car rental companies couldn’t guarantee they’d have one.”

What Estrella noticed is accurate. The car rental industry is in fact witnessing a massive growth in recent year due to an increase in the number of individuals traveling for both business and leisure purposes. So, it only made sense to expand the EZ Ryder car rental service to the general public. Recently, the company opened an office in Prince Albert and has future plans to also offer a ride-share option.

“My goal is to accommodate the needs of the nurses and the needs of the public. So, whoever they are, wherever they are, no matter what, our customers will drive a new, reliable rental vehicle at affordable rates they won’t get anywhere else.

“I’ve worked in many northern and First Nations communities where there has sometimes been a lack of provincial transportation for medical evacuations to hospital. I truly just want to help improve the access to better improve health care and quality of life for all northern residents.”

For Estrella, the sky’s the limit – literally. Eventually she’d like to purchase a helicopter to be used as a medi-vac option for northern residents as well.

Call EZ-Ryder at 306-953-1793 or visit them at 330 15th St. E in Prince Albert.

**This content was created by paNOW’s commercial content division.

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