Wheelchair van with a stretcher: how one van can run both kinds of trips

One floor, one trip type at a time

The usual way to run both kinds of trips from one van is a wheelchair van with a lowered floor and a cot dock that comes out. The floor carries track for wheelchair tie-downs. When a stretcher trip comes up, the crew locks the cot dock into that same floor, rolls the cot in, and pulls the dock again before the next wheelchair run.

Converters sell this as a package. BraunAbility’s ProMaster CompanionVan Ambulette is built for wheelchair, stretcher, and ambulatory riders. It pairs a Q’Straint AMBULOK cot securement with Q’Straint QRT MAX wheelchair securement on Q’Straint’s OMNI floor, which BraunAbility describes as interlocking aluminum planks that let you change the layout. BraunAbility’s rear-entry Chrysler NEMT minivan works the same way on a smaller scale: its lowered floor gives you a choice between a wheelchair user and a cot.

Federal buyers order the same idea. GSA placed six orders in federal fiscal year 2026 for a full-size van listed as “3WHLCH, 1COT, CURBSIDE LIFT”, at $73,750 to $84,375 each.

How much the van can carry at once depends on the floor. BraunAbility’s minivan holds a wheelchair or a cot. A full-size van may fit a cot beside wheelchair positions, as the GSA layout does, but Illinois and Virginia still limit any stretcher van to one stretcher rider at a time. A stretcher trip also ties up a two-person crew in both states. A dual-purpose van gives you flexibility across the day, not two stretcher trips at once.

What the build needs

Three things decide whether a wheelchair van can take a cot: a dock that comes out cleanly, wheelchair positions that still work after the swap, and enough door, floor, and headroom for a cot and the crew.

A cot dock that comes out

AMBULOK has three parts: a docking assembly that locks into the floor, a bracket fitted to the cot, and a four-point patient harness with a one-hand release. Q’Straint says the system needs no tools to install or remove, every part weighs 10 pounds or less, and it fits any existing NEMT vehicle with OMNI Floor. Its product page lists the Stryker Power-PRO XT and Performance-PRO XT cots, with two Ferno cots marked as coming soon.

The bracket is specific to your cot. BraunAbility’s minivan guide says the cot adapter bracket has to be ordered from Q’Straint, and that the AMBULOK limits how far the driver’s seat travels. The same minivan comes with a storage dock for the AMBULOK, oxygen, and belts, which is where the cot hardware rides on wheelchair days.

Wheelchair positions that still work

The ADA vehicle rule in 49 CFR 38.23 gives each wheelchair securement location a clear floor area of 30 by 48 inches near the accessible entrance, and requires at least one location on a van 22 feet long or shorter. Whatever cot hardware stays bolted down has to leave that space clear.

Virginia wrote a rule for exactly this kind of floor. Its Medicaid standard allows extra stretcher hardware only if the patient compartment entry stays clear with the stretcher in place. Hardware that becomes a tripping hazard in the entry once the stretcher is removed needs a bright colored finish. The tie-down side is covered in our wheelchair securement guide.

Door, floor, and headroom for a cot

Measure the van against the cot you will actually carry. Stryker’s Performance-PRO XT manual cot is 80 inches long and 23 inches wide, shortens to a minimum length of 64 inches, and is rated for 700 pounds. Stryker’s MX-PRO Bariatric Transport cot is 80.5 inches long and 29 inches wide. Two converter builds for comparison:

• BraunAbility rear-entry Chrysler NEMT minivan. Lowered floor 98 inches long and 34.25 inches wide, a ramp 34 inches wide rated for 1,000 pounds, and a 56-inch entrance height.
• BraunAbility ProMaster CompanionVan Ambulette. A 36-inch power side door and a 32-inch manual swing-away ADA ramp rated for 1,000 pounds.

State rules also need room for people. Illinois requires space for two attendants and direct observation of the stretcher rider. California’s litter van rule asks for an attendant seat in the patient compartment, a loading entrance large enough for a patient lying on a standard-sized gurney, and an emergency exit other than the loading door that a gurney fits through. Check deck height too: Stryker sets the Performance-PRO XT’s load height for decks under 30 inches, 30 to 34 inches, or 34 inches and above. The minivan or full-size van guide compares the two body sizes.

Crash tests: the cot and the wheelchair are tested separately

A dual-purpose van has two restraint systems, and each has its own test. The cot systems named on this page are tested to SAE J3027, which Q’Straint lists as Ambulance Litter Integrity, Retention, and Patient Restraint. Q’Straint gives AMBULOK’s test pulses as 30 mph at 22.5 g from the front, 15 mph at 26 g from the side, and 10 mph at 11 g from the rear. Stryker says its Performance-PRO XT meets dynamic crash standards with Stryker’s Performance-LOAD fastening system under SAE J3027 with X-restraints.

Wheelchair tie-downs follow a different standard. RESNA WC18 replaced SAE J2249 in 2012 and kept its frontal crash test, in which general-use tie-downs and belts are sled tested at 30 mph and 20 g. State pull tests for cot fasteners, such as Virginia’s, are listed in the stretcher van equipment guide.

Keep both sets of papers for a dual van: the cot system’s crash statement for your cot model and the tie-down maker’s WC18 label. BraunAbility says its rear-entry NEMT minivan was tested according to SAE J3102 and J3027.

State rules for a van that does both

States handle mixed use differently. These are examples; your own state’s guide, such as California or Illinois, has the rest.

• California. Title 22, section 51231.1(c), lets a litter van serve as a wheelchair van if it also meets every requirement in section 51231.2. That list includes a lift or ramp rated for at least 450 pounds, a footstool or extra step for loading, and seating for at least two patients in standard-sized wheelchairs, which is the line a small dual-purpose van has to clear.
• Virginia. The DMAS stretcher van standard says the vehicle “also may transport passengers in wheelchairs if the proper anchorages and securement devices are installed.” Wheelchair and stretcher vans are inspected twice a year.
• Illinois. A medicar that bills for a stretcher needs a stretcher van license from the Illinois Department of Public Health on top of its Secretary of State license. The license costs $25 per vehicle, lasts four years with an annual inspection, and covers only the vehicles named on the application. Every stretcher trip needs two trained attendants.
• Minnesota. The statute pays by the rider’s assessed mode, not the type of vehicle used. A wheelchair rider in your stretcher-capable van is paid the lift or ramp rate.
• Ohio. Ohio Medicaid’s U3 modifier marks a wheelchair van service provided in an ambulance vehicle. It is billed with A0130, S0209, and T2001, at the wheelchair van rates.

What each trip pays

The national codes split the two trips cleanly. A0130 is “Non-emergency transportation: wheelchair van” and S0209 is its mileage. T2005 is “Non-emergency transportation; stretcher van” and T2049 is its mileage. How far apart the payments sit varies a lot by state, and that gap decides how much a cot dock earns:

In North Dakota the stretcher base is more than five times the wheelchair base. In California the two bases are about $6 apart, and outside hospital-to-nursing-facility transfers both need a Treatment Authorization Request. Illinois lists the stretcher code inside its medicar column, next to the $30 base and $20 attendant line, and its handbook requires the IDPH stretcher license before any stretcher is billed. Minnesota’s rate paragraph now runs until the state’s new NEMT administrator takes over, under Laws 2026, chapter 121, and its per-mile rates move each quarter with gas prices, 1 percent for every 10 cents above $3.00 a gallon.

The scheduling cost of a van that switches

Swapping layouts costs time in three places:

1. The swap itself. Even a tool-free dock takes a stop, and the crew has to fit or stow the cot, the dock, and the harness. Do it at the yard or a planned stop, not at a curb with a rider waiting.
2. The second person. Illinois and Virginia require two crew members on a stretcher trip, and California pairs the driver with an attendant. On wheelchair runs that second person either rides along on trips that do not pay for an attendant, or has to be picked up before the next stretcher job.
3. The trips around it. A stretcher leg pulls the van out of the wheelchair rotation for the whole pickup, ride, and unload. As an example, a van with wheelchair pickups at 8:00, 9:15 and 10:30 that takes a 9:00 stretcher trip will usually lose the 9:15 and 10:30 rides to another van.

Grouping stretcher work into set windows keeps the swap count down. If stretcher trips fill most of a van’s day, a dedicated stretcher van removes the swap and the crew juggling altogether. For crew, licensing, and where stretcher work comes from, read the stretcher business guide.

Scheduling a dual-purpose van in HealthRide

In HealthRide, each vehicle carries its real capabilities: wheelchair accessible, stretcher capable, oxygen equipped, and its seat count. Wheelchair, stretcher, oxygen, and stair-chair requirements are matched on every assignment, so a stretcher trip only lands on a van that can take a cot. The fleet page shows how those capabilities are set for each vehicle.