SFO to St. Mary's Medical Center

St. Mary's Medical Center at 450 Stanyan Street is now part of UCSF Health and carries the name UCSF Health Stanyan Hospital. Most people still call it St. Mary's, and so does a lot of paperwork. Either name brings you to the same building facing the eastern edge of Golden Gate Park, where the Haight meets the Panhandle.

It's the oldest continuously operating hospital in San Francisco, and it runs a cardiac catheterization laboratory, orthopedic and spine care, a cancer center, and physical rehabilitation programs. From SFO it's about 15 miles, usually 30 minutes and up to an hour when the crosstown streets clog, at flat rates from $85 either direction.

There are two hospital lots and which one you want depends on your department. The Shrader Street lot at 1 Shrader Street sits directly across from the hospital entrance and is the default. The Hayes Street lot at 2250 Hayes Street is the better choice for the cardiac cath lab, the cancer center, or the doctors' offices. Both are open 24 hours.

Street parking is free here but capped at two hours, which doesn't cover a cath lab appointment or an infusion. Tell us the department when you book and we'll drop on the right side rather than leaving you to cross the block afterwards.

The orthopedic and spine practice shapes a lot of the rides we do here. Someone flies in for surgery, stays a few days, then needs to get to the airport at the point when stairs, curbs and standing are all harder than they were on the way in.

Tell us at booking if you'll have a walker, crutches or a folding wheelchair — they ride in the trunk at no charge and the driver loads them. The Sienna's floor is low and its doors are wide, which most post-op riders find easier to get into. We won't rush the loading, and no meter runs while it happens.

Recovery trips usually involve someone flying in — a partner, an adult child, a friend taking a week off. You can book their airport ride from anywhere: your card, your confirmation, their name and mobile number in the notes, and the driver texts them on landing.

For a longer stay near the hospital, our hotel guide lists city options with flat-rate airport pricing attached. For several people arriving on different flights, a custom ride inquiry lets us schedule them together.