The issue of paid parking at hospitals during times of illness or an emergency is a hot button issue throughout the province. It’s spurred a growing movement to get rid of parking meters at hospitals.
In Kamloops, Rose Bourdin has started a petition to give patients a break.
“It’s an absolute money grab,” Bourdin says. “What else could it be? What else would it be here for? It’s not to monitor the parking
How much revenue does the parking fees make for the health care system? Every year the Lower Mainland health authorities bring in $19 million in parking revenue. Roughly $6 million is for the cost of service parking and the remaining $13 million goes into the operating budget.
“It is money that is used to providing health care services, towards buying equipment, towards maintaining or upgrading our facilities,” says Tasleem Juma, Fraser Health Authority. “So if we don’t have that money that means we have to find it somewhere else.”
Juma says anyone who feels they can’t afford the parking fees can appeal to the hospital administration or the health authority to have the payments waived.
Comments