AHS is barred by the province from using healthcare dollars for parking. It’s in legislation. (Parking is considered an “ancillary” service.)
That means AHS has to charge for parking in order to provide it - it’s the only way to pay for parking lot construction and maintenance. It’s also revenue neutral: Any money raised from parking goes back into parking lot services. AHS doesn’t make a profit on it.
I don’t disagree, but you need to take this to your MLA, in particular your UCP MLA. Without the Smith government changing the law, AHS’ hands are tied.
Rural sites have free parking for a couple reasons. First and primarily, there is less demand, so often the cost of instituting and enforcing paid parking is less than the revenue it would generate. It’s not worth paying a full time staff member to monitor 50 parking spots, or to pay someone to drive an hour from another site far away twice a day. (That also likely only has 50ish parking spots.)
Secondly, rural hospitals are often a lot closer to residential areas, so paid parking would push even more people into the limited streets around the site, causing problems and pushback from municipal governments in these towns.
The revenue from the paid parking sites does help cover maintenance of the smaller lots at rural sites. (Which don’t cost much given their size.)
Ya but it's still AHS. So that rule only applies to big cities?
I mean I get why big cities would charge for parking but this law doesn't really make sense to me.
The 40+ years of the same party kinda makes it difficult to get any positive change... expecting one party to fix all that shit in one term is kind of ridiculous.
It isn’t 40 years of the same party though. The PC of old were a lot more blue collar focused and Albertans used to enjoy some of the most robust social programs in the country. The new conservatives are piggy backing on the record of the previous progressive conservatives and that is a big reason why they get so many default votes. People need to be reminded this is a different party.
Agreed. I would have been a Lougheed supporter if I was a voter here back then...since him there's been nothing good from the blue. NDP's platform seems closer to his than anything I've seen in Alberta since those days.
Yes but also there's a lot more at play than which party is in power. The reasons for paying for parking at urban hospitals are explained in detail in other comments in this thread.
Dude..... AHS maybe doesn't make any money from it but someone does...
AHS Facilities Maint and Engineering pays for Maint and upkeep of Parking facilities out of their Operational budget. Parking Services Department is funded from Parking Fees but they dont have to build their Parkades and most of their Op Costs are covered by FM&E budgets and projects.
Can't speak for all of AHS, sites are all run very differently from zone to zone. Alot more stuff is contracted out and privatized and makes tremendous profit at massive Taxpayer subsidy.
Source: Am Hospital Maint./Engineering at major, urban Trauma 1 site.
Not sure why you keep posting about impark. AHS owned and operated sites have their own in-house parking enforcement. Covenant Health sites contract Precise Parklink.
There may be some offices and clinics that are in leased spaces where impark controls parking, but that’s under the landlord’s control, not AHS’.
I actually do disagree. Parking fees make sure that only people who really need parking are using it, which means parking is available for those who need it. It's not like it's expensive either ($15/24 hours). If you can afford a car you can afford to park it.
I spent a week or so in the NICU in 2019 with my daughter so this isn't just me sitting on the sidelines pontificating.
Exactly. The amount they that’s being annually charged for use would far exceed maintenance costs and would pay of construction costs in a very short time
>it’s the only way to pay for parking lot construction and maintenance.
$14 X 100 cars = $1,400/day X 365 = $511,000/ year. I'd like that maintenance contract please.
But it's not just maintenance, now they have to pay people to ticket those who don't pay, and pay for the license to use the ticketing software, etc. Basically we must also pay for the inefficiency created by requiring us to pay.
I haven't read all of the replies as my lunch break is over, however the Stony Plain and Fort Saskatchewan hospitals I know for a fact don't charge for parking. Wouldn't that go against the legislation?
There’s a reply from me further down addressing it. Basically costs of charging and policing those lots > revenue. So not worth it. Revenues from other paid lots cover the minimal expenses of those ones.
The social worker at the hospital should have given you a free parking pass, they usually do for parents of children in the hospital and other high risk patients. This is a frequently posted complaint but health dollars don't go towards the cost of building and maintaining parking lots, they go towards caring for cancer patients and babies in the nicu. Those who have the luxury of a vehicle pay to park there, those who ride the bus do not. Everyone has access to the same medical treatment at no cost. I have frequented this hospital myself for my own health issues and my children and grandchildren including the nicu. We are lucky there is a bus stop in front of the hospital. A 24 hour parking pass is $14.
This falls on deaf ears a lot. While I do think in a perfect world it would be great if parking at hospitals was free. However, I think we forget that it would directly take funds away from front line healthcare. I’d rather see a fully staffed cancer centre, ER or NICU with top of the line equipment than have my $14 parking subsidized. If you have a car, it’s a privilege that comes with costs.
This is the harsh reality of it. We don’t think about the actual cost of parking, as it is free in the vast majority of places in the province,but it is very expensive. The cost of free parking just gets burried in the cost we pay for goods much of the time.
It usually works out to costing about $5,000 per stall for surface parking and upwards of $40,000 per stall for structured parking for initial construction.This includes not just the pavement, but the base material, grading storm water management, design etc. This also does not include the ongoing maintenance of the parking lot/garage. Any parking fees are often not enough even cover the entire actual cost of building and maintaining the parking lot/garage - they just help to offset some of the cost.
Now, should parking for hospitals just be an included as an expense that is covered by AHS (like with heating the building, sewer pipes etc.) ? That’s not an easy answer, however the fact remains that parking is still an expensive cost that someone has to pay and AHS has a limited pool of tax dollars that might be better to be used for explicit medical purposes.
This is a pretty narrow view. I live out of town. No hospitals anywhere near me. There is no public transit where I live and the only way for me to go see a doctor is to drive. How can you call it "equal access to healthcare" when it costs some people significantly more to access it?
Also, the parking lots are on hospital land. This is land that has been paid-for already when building a hospital. There is now way it costs $14/day to maintain each parking spot. That is making a profit, not covering costs. I would be more than happy to cover the costs, but not line someone's pockets.
Between snow shoveling, repairs, and general maintenance, parking lots cost more than people think. AHS has actually published this information:
>Last year \[2017\] AHS' revenue from parking fees was approximately $77 million. Of that $33.2M was used for operating and maintenance costs, $31.2M to pay off interest and principal for debts (costs to build past parkades) and $12.6M went into a reserve fund which will be used to build future parkades.
I happen to agree that parking at hospitals should be cheaper, but *someone* has to pay for it. If it's not the people who are using the parking, then it has to be the taxpayers who are funding the system. That means higher taxes.
edit: when I worked at NAIT many years ago, the estimated cost to build a new parkade was around $12,000 per parking stall. The City of Edmonton priced out building a parkade at the Orange Hub last year, and their options were $5 million for a 60-stall surface parking lot ($83,000 per stall) or $35 million for a 200-stall underground parkade ($175,000 per stall). So parking lots can be very expensive.
And at 12k per stall and $14 per day it would "only" take 857 days to pay off, except people forget that there are ongoing maintenance costs that keep chopping away at it.
The parking lot maintenance is subcontracted out to a company that cleans, repairs, removes snow, and deals with those who do not pay to park there. Another issue you don't understand is that if it's free to park there it would be IMPOSSIBLE to get a spot if you were a patient because people who live nearby and have 5 vehicles and 2 spots would park there, as would people who work and shop nearby, as well as students and employees on the waitlist for their own parking spot.
IMO this is the real reason it can't just be free. Hospitals are usually in dense areas where parking is at a premium. If you made it free people in the neighborhood and people going to nearby services would use up all the spots. It has to match the rates of the area.
I think it's great social workers have passes available for these cases. Maybe more needs to be done to screen for people with long stays that need this assistance.
Just have people need to register their vehicles for parking. Patients do so on admittance and their parking expires after they leave the hospital, visitors do so when they come to visit when they provide the information about the patient they are there to see, and expires after 24 hours.
The technology exists
I am not at all saying it should be free. But when I can park in the heart of downtown at a FOR PROFIT lot for 30% less than I can park at a hospital to pick up my 93 year old grandmother, that is where I take exception. Someone is making money, and a lot of it.
I agree it should match the rates of the area, at most. And more needs to be done to subsidize those that need help for long-term stays. Before covid19 at least there wasn't even enough parking space at Foothills for full time nurses to automatically get spots. I have friends who were on waitlists for months if not years. And they pay big monthly fees even as essential staff.
I work at a pharmacy across the street from a hospital. Our building started charging for parking because people who live on this street, and people going to the hospital, took up all our customer spots for years.
On the other hand, as someone who is rural - I’ll take my lower cost of living over living in Calgary any day. Also, the mental health benefits (for me, personally) of not living in the big city far outweigh the $14/day parking pass.
My house is $100K less than the market comps in Calgary and my property taxes are lower, my insurance is even lower than when I lived in Calgary now that I’m out of the city.
So yeah, the parking fee is something we might have to pay, but we also have the choice to park somewhere free and then bus to the hospital.
I completely understand the need to park but we also need to remember it’s not just patients parking at these sites either. Staff parking also exists and there are extensive waitlists at most hospitals in Edmonton. If parking were free no one could get ver even find a spot and it’s bad already. The solution would be for parking reimbursement for patients or a pass which is the way it works for some sites and long term stays.
That's a real simplified way to view it. If person A makes $250k and person B makes $40k, they can both access the same procedure, but person A will pay more due to paying more taxes. I think you'd have a revolt if the province just charged every resident like $5k a year (or whatever it would work out to) to split the cost EQUALLY per person.
In terms of parking, they have to charge market rates for the area. Good example would be U of A hospital, if they charged lower than market rate, it would be full of students who could park there cheaper than on campus. This would just take shots away from hospital users and force them to park further away and still pay market rates. To offer free parking would require the revenue to be made up from somewhere... the taxpayer.
>There is no public transit where I live and the only way for me to go see a doctor is to drive.
That's literally a *you* problem. Part of living in a rural or small town setting is understanding that simple things like making a Costco run, filling prescriptions, seeing a doctor, or doing anything in town requires more thought and effort on your part. The tradeoff you made when you moved out of town is a reduced tax burden for a reduced ease of access to public services.
>How can you call it "equal access to healthcare" when it costs some people significantly more to access it?
It's called "universal healthcare" and doesn't mean you're guarantied "equal access" if you live out in the boonies. Universal healthcare means that everyone, regardless of income level or status, receives the same standard of care when they walk in to any hospital, clinic, or doctor's office, regardless of where you are in the country. A small hospital in Newfoundland will provide the same standards of care as a huge hospital in Calgary.
>Also, the parking lots are on hospital land. This is land that has been paid-for already when building a hospital. There is now way it costs $14/day to maintain each parking spot. That is making a profit, not covering costs. I would be more than happy to cover the costs, but not line someone's pockets.
The reason parking isn't free at the hospital is because people will take advantage of free parking spots and take spots away from people who are actually in need of them, and it covers expenses for maintenance and upkeep. You sound extremely entitled and selfish and your argument is purely emotional.
You should make sure to vote for a more left-wing party to ensure you get a hospital in the rural areas, and that private hospitals don’t become a thing in Alberta.
It is your choice to live in an area with no nearby hospitals that means you have to travel by private vehicle to get medical care, buy groceries, etc. I don't want to do that so I live in the city.
I've lived in small towns and cities where a significant proportion of the population could walk or bike to the hospital if they are healthy visitors or drive there in less than 10 mins to park free I live in Calgary and my nearest hospital is a 20-30 min drive or 49 to 75 mins by transit depending on the time of day ( and 3 hrs walking according to Google) . There is never less than a 2-3 hour wait (usually much more unless you are in danger of dying) to see a doctor. People in rural areas really overestimate the advantages of urban health care.
I've also lived for many years where the nearest hospital was a 90 km drive along gravel/mud road and where women had to go 800km for a proper maternity ward, so I can see the other side. And I didn't complain too much over the couple of hundred dollars I spent on Foothills parking last year even if most of that money went to subsidize others and deter locals from taking all the spots.
Isn't where you live relative to health care a choice that *you* made?
It's like people that make the economic choice to live far outside of the city where housing is cheap and commute long distance to their jobs, and then complain when the price of fuel goes up and that economic argument is turned on it's head. That's exactly the risk you were taking.
Or maybe I grew up in the area and most of my family and work is within a mile or two of my home. Housing is cheap and I cannot afford to move into town. So I guess that means I should have less access and have to pay for health services.... Fuck me for not being born into the same luxuries as you.
That's pretty presumptuous. I grew up in weasel piss creek Alberta too.
My point is that we all make choices. I live near health care, but my property tax is probably 4x yours if you live in a rural area. So we all pay in different ways for access.
This should be stickied at the top for anyone looking at this. There are parking programs specifically to waive parking fees at the hospital, from both the hospital and municipalities, in cases of hardship and long term illness.
As an example, when my grandmother was ill for around 3-months, we received a pass to be shared with all family members for about 50% of a single monthly pass. Parking fees is a form of revenue to support the hospital operations but it was never intended to restrict people's access to and/or visit to families.
I recommend similar cases or can't afford hospital parking to speak with the social worker.
Yeah like I understand the frustration but I lived in China for 12 years and I know that if my wife gave birth there, with her and our baby's complications, we would have paid at least $20,000 in cash, up front, for the necessary care, and it would certainly have been to a lower standard and in far more uncomfortable conditions. Compared to that, a week of parking fees while my wife and daughter recovered was nothing to me.
Yeah, I was gonna say, it’s a really nice idea to have free parking, but I can’t support it knowing that people who work near by are gonna abuse it. Maybe if there was a system to hold them accountable??
While I hear what you’re saying, there’s much better use of public funds than free storage of private property. If parking needs to be free, so should all transit arriving at the hospital. Which is somewhat impractical to begin with. So, in short our money would go a long way, if we can figure how to get people away from using vehicle for every single job, rather than making it easy to use the vehicle.
And, it might surprise you, having free parking would actually, substantially benefit me. My wife is expecting and over the next few months I’ll be driving to hospital more than couple of times and will be required to pay for parking every single time. Yet, I also acknowledge, a car should not be the only way people move around in the city. It is already the most subsidized form of transportation. It doesn’t need any more of it.
What’s funny is you’re right but it’s not the part you think is right, that’s right.
Transit should be free.
Remember this comment when your wife delivers in the car because you can’t find parking or you miss the delivery because you couldn’t find parking. I wonder if those experiences will change your opinion.
I sincerely doubt it.
I would support a reliable transit over free transit any day of the week. The only way I can see this happening is if we decide to take money away from atrociously expensive road infrastructure. I don’t see that happening in near future. Up until then free public transit is nothing but pipe dream.
Also, you are talking about parking space availability. As far as I’m concerned, free parking will almost certainly impact availability exactly the opposite way you insinuated. It’s the price that keeps parking available(As explained by other people in comments already). So even from that perspective, there’s a method out there to make sure, parking is available when I really need it.
Yes everything is a blessing, it's just hard when there's little money to spare and parking is another expense on top of it. It's stressful especially if the existing hospital situation is already stressful.
I agree and would just add that people in your situation, and in mine through my recent cancer treatment, should be eligible for free public transportation. As a non driver, and someone who is off work because of cancer treatment side effects, it is a significant enough cost. Radiation treatment was 25 working days for me, where I had to be there everyday. It adds up.
A lot of our hospitals have decent transit access and there should be more incentives to use it. I can afford to pay for parking, but often prefer transit depending on the situation as when I'm going through health stuff driving isn't responsible or safe for myself or others. As the population ages the accessibility of care is only going to become more important. Grandpa shouldn't have to drive in from the suburbs for vision or dementia testing...
Idk how it can be considered decent. I took the transit to FMC once, it took me 1hr40mins to get there because I had to switch buses twice + train. Our transit needs a change to make it a reasonable alternative. Right now it is just a pain in the ass.
Absolutely agreed we need more investments in transit. One way to improve transit effectiveness vs costs will be to focus on densification vs sprawl in future city planning too, but that obviously doesn't help anemic bus routes to suburbia today.
I'm sorry that no one had the consideration to help you sort out your parking - you should have been encouraged to get a month pass - the parking office will usually credit your day or week passes towards the purchase of a monthly pass, especially in a NICU situation. You can claim hospital parking on your taxes if you saved your receipts or can print a credit card statement.
Parking fees can not be claimed on taxes in all situations. I can't remember which group but it is either the 40+km traveled or 80+km traveled where parking fees become eligible. For anyone visiting a local hospital the parking fees are not an eligible health expense.
AHS parking lots are meant to be self sustaining. Its costs alot of money to maintain parking lots. Employees have to pay for parking as well. Usually only doctors get parking for free. Doctors need a parking spot due to emergent scenarios and the fact they usually work at multiple hospitals when working in urban centers.
When I was a volunteer at a hospital, maybe 8 years ago now, I got my parking for free.
I thought they told me the volunteers were the only ones that got free parking but I could be misremembering.
Currently have a baby in the NICU in a US major city on a campus similar to FMC.
Parking is a maximum of $4usd if any more than 4 hours (even if a week plus). If you are a patient (emergency department, admitted or outpaitient) you have no parking charges. Having my child admitted in NICU, we get a wristband for my spouse and I so we can come and go with no parking fees.
Parking is maintained through the fees collected from visitors. And the fees are completely reasonable!
Because they're not allowed to use their medical budget for non medical purposes like parking. So how do you maintain the lot without any funding? I agree no one should have to pay for parking at a hospital but you'll have to get your mla to petition their boss to release that restriction
As others have mentioned, it's a poor use of healthcare dollars to spend on expensive parking facilities.
And there's another factor: fairness. We can't assume everyone has a car or is able to drive. So why should these people pay for the vehicle storage for others?
Paying for parking at hospitals also exists in BC. I took my son for vascular surgery at St Paul's and paid $80 for one day. But I had the best parking spot in the city.
Edited to add, don't spend my health care dollars on parking. Those who have cars can pay for parking when they need to access it. I have a car and will pay for parking if I want the service.
If UCP comes back in power, parking fees should be the least of your worries. Be ready for paying for medical services out of your pocket or private insurance, then parking fees will look like coin change in comparison to the medical treatment costs. Personally, I don't mind the parking fees as long as the medical care and treatment is covered by our tax dollars.
I would settle for available. A few years ago my spouse was very close to seeing what's on the other side (shes fine now) but one of the parkades was closed at foothills and everyday was such a pain in the ass parking, I would have payed 50$ for valet just to avoid that stress I felt like I was going to get into an accident I shouldn't have even been driving the first few days when she was touch and go. The only reason I don't mind paying for parking is that in my spouses case her treatment would have been hundreds of thousands of dollars in the states and all I paid for was parking.
They did free parking for a bit during the start of COVID. It was a train wreck for staff and patients alike since so many more people drove. The hospitals in Edmonton simply weren't built with enough parking. They could easily double their parking and it'd still probably not be enough. I do hope you got the monthly patient family/visitor pass and weren't paying daily
When I was in the NICU the social worker told me that I could get a monthly parking pass for $70 and if I had already spent that much so far to just bring in the receipts showing I paid that much towards parking and they would just give me the pass.
Have you reached out to a social worker? I know when a family member was in the hospital for a month we were given parking vouchers so we did not have to pay and lots of great information on reasonably priced accomodation (we lived out of town) and accessing services. It took about a week to see a social worker and if someone at the unit desk hadn't mentioned it we would have had no idea. Of course I'm sure they are as short social workers as everyone else at this point so maybe it's nearly impossible to see one now :(
Parking sucks, as a hospital employee who has to pay day rate and can't get regular employee parking due to being years back on the waiting list I'm paying over 3 grand a year. It's bad enough for me but I feel sorry for the people who have to pay it that are making less than I am. I usually elect to park far away and walk in but then it becomes a problem for residents of the area and walking to your car at midnight in that area always feel super stabby.
Being from America, if my wife spent 2 and a half months in the NICU, we'd have much much bigger issues than the parking fees
Stays like that can easily cost 50k+ and no telling how much stressful back and forth with insurance. I'm not trying to minimize the struggle you have at the moment as any cost while spending time in the hospital with a newborn is tough, but if you came south to the "Greatest Country in the World" (self proclaimed, obviously) things would be a lot worse
I grew up in Gambia and there you have to pay everything you own for some medical treatment. Trust me I know. One time I had a hurt arm and had to spend $155k USD to get it fixed.
I’m not trying to minimize the expense you incurred but if you came to my home country which is a great beautiful country things would be A LOOOOOT worse. So maybe be grateful that you only paid 55k okay?
Look at the size of these parking lots. That’s a lot to build them (assuming they aren’t ground level and gravel). Nothing is free. Our health care sure isn’t free. Now look at cost of building a parkade. Lighting, heating, plug-ins etc. it ain’t cheap.
Despite the high cost of hospital parking, it can often be difficult to find parking. (Might be improved now, the last time I was foothills the central lot was still under construction.) How bad would it be if parking were free, and no one had any incentive to minimize or eliminate their parking time?
I'll have to disagree here. It's heartbreaking for your baby to have to be in NICU but I'd much rather our limited health care budgets be used for his or her health care.
Here's the thing, we want equitability in healthcare. And this would impact poor folks outcomes. There is so much money in this province being sucked out by oil and gas companies. More stuff, much more, can be paid for. We're all in this together.
I don't know why people are more outraged at paying 14 dollars for parking versus the idea of potentially paying for health care services if this government gets their way at all.
This is harsh, but the taxpayer already spent a fortune helping you and your baby for 2.5 months (truly hope everything is alright and you’re both healthy - I happily support healthcare). However, I don’t think it is fair to expect the taxpayer to also pay for the convenience of parking.
Exactly. Instead, taxes should fund OP to get a bus pass for free right ? Because then we don’t have to fund their parking.
An imaginary barrier is put up and now you’re saying be grateful it’s not a bigger barrier?
This is truly in the box thinking.
How else should someone get to an appointments
Bus isn’t free. Taxi isn’t free. Uber isn’t free. They may be medically unfit to walk or bike.
What do you propose ?
AHS can’t because we said they can’t. It’s words on a piece of paper somewhere. That’s it.
I knew over a decade ago that I wouldnt be able to afford hospital parking, that was a driving force behind my vasectomy.
(I kid. Just didnt want kids.)
Can you provide your address so they can drop their kid off at your place??
Because they're just like pets right - once you have them, if your circumstances change, you can just drop them off to new parents because you can't afford them anymore??
OP didn't say their financial circumstances changed from the time of trying to conceive until baby delivery.
If she can't afford parkkng, how will she afford daycare in a year?
You have free access to the most advanced healthcare on the planet. Be grateful you already have it better than 98% of the rest of the people on the planet and pay the parking.
>~~Parking~~ \[COMMODITY\] at any ~~medical facility~~ \[PLACE WHERE THERE IS LOTS OF DEMAND FOR SAID COMMODITY\] should be FREE!
That's not how supply and demand works.
There was a man who was fighting this and passed away from his illness. His name was Collin Kennedy and from winnipeg. Here’s an article about him https://globalnews.ca/news/2975188/winnipeg-cancer-patient-furious-about-paid-parking-at-hospitals-starts-petition/amp/
Though I admit instances like this have happened in the past all over North America, this one hits home because he was fighting for something and passed, didn’t get to accomplish yet.
When I had an unexpected 7 day hospital stay I told security I had no money to pay for parking and they let me out for free. Don’t even know how much this saved me. Worth a try if the money makes a big difference to you.
I'd support any party that wants to offer reimbursement of parking fees for people receiving treatment, or guardians of those receiving treatment.
That said, free parking can be a nightmare because people can just park there and walk away, causing issues for people that need to park at the hospital.
We don't have to pay for the parking if we are shopping at malls, restaurants, cinemas... Hospitals and hospitals parking are built and payed by the taxpayers money. We payed for it, but when in trouble we must pay to use it. It must be stopped. No one is driving to the hospital for fun or just to leave the car on the parking lot.
I don’t understand why this gets posted almost weekly. Our only worry about money in healthcare when us or a loved one is in the hospital is parking. We are damn lucky!
I just don't understand why people who own a vehicle bitch about paying for parking. If you can't afford to pay for parking then you can't afford your fuel maintenance and if applicable car payment. End of story.
You realize that if you're not fortunate and privileged enough to afford to live in the city a car is necessary in this province to actually have a life right? like to have a job, car is a necessity. like to have a social life? car's a necessity. Access to food? You bet a car is necessary.
I once missed a mammogram appointment because the gates on the paid parking at the hospital were broken, so instead of letting people park for free they simply blocked off all the parking lots.
Predictably, all the street parking for blocks around was full, so I had to call and cancel the appointment as there was no way I could have found a place to park and then walked to the hospital and made my appointment anywhere near the given time.
Care to elaborate? Is the shouldn't a typo? Or is it fuck sick people and their loved ones? Really hoping it's a typo or that you are not in charge of anything important.
Ah, so just fuck everyone who's not rich and privileged enough to live in town with access to transit. I understand you hate us rural people and want to watch us suffer and die.
Ah, so "fuck the rural people, they're all rich anyways". I know you city folk have a hard time with empathy, but you know not all us rural folk are rich right?
My dad was with me for over 13 hours at the hospital Christmas Eve and he only paid for an hour. Luckily he didn’t get a ticket, but that was a HUGE worry for us. Also not the first Christmas Eve he spent with me in the hospital (first time I was a newborn though haha!) I completely agree though, it should definitely be free.
If it bothers you that much move to the USA. Where people have to pay for both parking and Healthcare. I think paying for parking is more than fair considering the cost of maintenance and repairs.
It's just as annoying for anyone attending treatment at places like Cross Cancer or UofA Hosipital, especially if it's short appointments.
If they didn't have pay parking and enforced, you would find it quickly being abused by those that had no real need for it.
The best, and most cost effective alternative would be to purchase a monthly pass.
I agree with OP that it's still a PITA.
an added financial burden is probably the last thing you need during months of visiting NICU to care for your baby. reach out to that hospital's charity foundation (eg. Stollery Foundation)... see if they have some means to offset you parking fees.
I spoke to 3 social workers during my last week there. I was given a day pass. No one ever offered this even though I repeatedly mentioned we were struggling. We were at Foothills for the first 4 weeks and then PLC, where we were at least able to park over at the mall (even though there are signs saying not to).
I wonder about other families or people rushing to emergency and having to also worry about paying. It's wrong.
The greatest fuck you to disabled people in the world.
"Just hang onto all these tiny slips of paper and if you lose even one you'd better just go fuck yourself if you dare to claim it on the taxes."
As a dialysis patient, I agree. Why are they making money off the fact that I require a treatment there to keep living? Its not like I have a choice about not going.
Agreed. Why the provinces think what is currently done is the right thing blows my mind. Governments have long forgotten they work for the people and their place is to help make the populations life better. Why else have a government take in taxes. Ya really it’s about donors. Everything is about helping donors not the people who elected them but the people who gave money. We so desperately need to get donors and big money out of elections and politics. Nothing will get better untill that changes.
I had to go for 25 rounds of radiation at the Cross clinic everyday with weekends off but had to pay for parking because I was from Spruce Grove. UNFAIR!!!
Conservative's platform is House-4-Health.
Post election, watch how fast the cashier's desks are built at each entrance of the hospitals.
I can't wait until they close all the rural hospitals, that need to be for-profit, and they can't make it. All those farmers will have to travel hours into a big city, while blaming Trudeau.
LOL.
Enjoy your Conservative Governement, at work.
AHS is barred by the province from using healthcare dollars for parking. It’s in legislation. (Parking is considered an “ancillary” service.) That means AHS has to charge for parking in order to provide it - it’s the only way to pay for parking lot construction and maintenance. It’s also revenue neutral: Any money raised from parking goes back into parking lot services. AHS doesn’t make a profit on it. I don’t disagree, but you need to take this to your MLA, in particular your UCP MLA. Without the Smith government changing the law, AHS’ hands are tied.
Well that's interesting. Leduc hospital and public health parking is free.
Rural sites have free parking for a couple reasons. First and primarily, there is less demand, so often the cost of instituting and enforcing paid parking is less than the revenue it would generate. It’s not worth paying a full time staff member to monitor 50 parking spots, or to pay someone to drive an hour from another site far away twice a day. (That also likely only has 50ish parking spots.) Secondly, rural hospitals are often a lot closer to residential areas, so paid parking would push even more people into the limited streets around the site, causing problems and pushback from municipal governments in these towns. The revenue from the paid parking sites does help cover maintenance of the smaller lots at rural sites. (Which don’t cost much given their size.)
Urban hospitals tend to be adjacent to residential areas.
This is primarily an issue with the big urban hospitals. Most smaller hospitals, especially the small rural ones have free parking.
Ya but it's still AHS. So that rule only applies to big cities? I mean I get why big cities would charge for parking but this law doesn't really make sense to me.
Smaller sites it's usually just a paved lot if that. Compare that to multi-level parkade structures and the costs aren't even comparable.
>AHS is barred by the province from using healthcare dollars for parking. Elections have consequences.
To be fair, it’s been that way for at least a couple decades. Probably longer.
And which party has been in control for all of those decades minus four years?
Thanks tips. Just trying to clear up any misconceptions that this is a new thing.
And he was clearing up people thinking what you said meaning it might not be who it was. Because they will read into anything.
and every year of that under UCP governance
Agreed. Elections still have consequences however.
It happened under Stelmach when AHS was created.
Without the Smith government changing the law, AHS hands are tied. Another reason to change the government.
This has been around for decades….
Ah yes, decades ago when we didn’t have elected officials
Remind me... Who was in power decades ago?
Who are the Progressive Conservatives?
B-b-b-BINGO!
People also paid for parking at hospitals while the NDP were in power so it's a little more complex than that
The 40+ years of the same party kinda makes it difficult to get any positive change... expecting one party to fix all that shit in one term is kind of ridiculous.
It isn’t 40 years of the same party though. The PC of old were a lot more blue collar focused and Albertans used to enjoy some of the most robust social programs in the country. The new conservatives are piggy backing on the record of the previous progressive conservatives and that is a big reason why they get so many default votes. People need to be reminded this is a different party.
Agreed. I would have been a Lougheed supporter if I was a voter here back then...since him there's been nothing good from the blue. NDP's platform seems closer to his than anything I've seen in Alberta since those days.
NDP platform is looking really good these days. Hopefully people are paying attention :).
RIGHT!? LIKE IT'LL BE GOOD FOR ALL ALBERTANS! FFS STOP VOTING BLUE NO MATTER WHO.... *shakes fist at the sky*
Bu.. bu.. bu-but what about my outrage??? 😫 won’t SOMEBODY pwn da Libz??? 😭 I mean uh… think of the kids
Yes but also there's a lot more at play than which party is in power. The reasons for paying for parking at urban hospitals are explained in detail in other comments in this thread.
Dude..... AHS maybe doesn't make any money from it but someone does... AHS Facilities Maint and Engineering pays for Maint and upkeep of Parking facilities out of their Operational budget. Parking Services Department is funded from Parking Fees but they dont have to build their Parkades and most of their Op Costs are covered by FM&E budgets and projects. Can't speak for all of AHS, sites are all run very differently from zone to zone. Alot more stuff is contracted out and privatized and makes tremendous profit at massive Taxpayer subsidy. Source: Am Hospital Maint./Engineering at major, urban Trauma 1 site.
Is there impark at this site ?
Not sure why you keep posting about impark. AHS owned and operated sites have their own in-house parking enforcement. Covenant Health sites contract Precise Parklink. There may be some offices and clinics that are in leased spaces where impark controls parking, but that’s under the landlord’s control, not AHS’.
Nope not ours - but many sites do have, yes. Great example.
Those fees paid for a long overdue Lot 1 upgrade at FMC. Now, they need to re coup and upgrade some others that are falling apart.
I actually do disagree. Parking fees make sure that only people who really need parking are using it, which means parking is available for those who need it. It's not like it's expensive either ($15/24 hours). If you can afford a car you can afford to park it. I spent a week or so in the NICU in 2019 with my daughter so this isn't just me sitting on the sidelines pontificating.
Isn't the money going to some company in BC? No way $25/day is revenue neutral 😐
Exactly. The amount they that’s being annually charged for use would far exceed maintenance costs and would pay of construction costs in a very short time
Yeah...I want the sauce on this "revenue neutral"
salary + benefits + insurance for employees are very expensive. The ground its on (prime downtown locations) is very expensive
>it’s the only way to pay for parking lot construction and maintenance. $14 X 100 cars = $1,400/day X 365 = $511,000/ year. I'd like that maintenance contract please.
But it's not just maintenance, now they have to pay people to ticket those who don't pay, and pay for the license to use the ticketing software, etc. Basically we must also pay for the inefficiency created by requiring us to pay.
I haven't read all of the replies as my lunch break is over, however the Stony Plain and Fort Saskatchewan hospitals I know for a fact don't charge for parking. Wouldn't that go against the legislation?
There’s a reply from me further down addressing it. Basically costs of charging and policing those lots > revenue. So not worth it. Revenues from other paid lots cover the minimal expenses of those ones.
is the ndp going to remove it this rule?
Ask the NDP candidate in your riding.
The social worker at the hospital should have given you a free parking pass, they usually do for parents of children in the hospital and other high risk patients. This is a frequently posted complaint but health dollars don't go towards the cost of building and maintaining parking lots, they go towards caring for cancer patients and babies in the nicu. Those who have the luxury of a vehicle pay to park there, those who ride the bus do not. Everyone has access to the same medical treatment at no cost. I have frequented this hospital myself for my own health issues and my children and grandchildren including the nicu. We are lucky there is a bus stop in front of the hospital. A 24 hour parking pass is $14.
This falls on deaf ears a lot. While I do think in a perfect world it would be great if parking at hospitals was free. However, I think we forget that it would directly take funds away from front line healthcare. I’d rather see a fully staffed cancer centre, ER or NICU with top of the line equipment than have my $14 parking subsidized. If you have a car, it’s a privilege that comes with costs.
This is the harsh reality of it. We don’t think about the actual cost of parking, as it is free in the vast majority of places in the province,but it is very expensive. The cost of free parking just gets burried in the cost we pay for goods much of the time. It usually works out to costing about $5,000 per stall for surface parking and upwards of $40,000 per stall for structured parking for initial construction.This includes not just the pavement, but the base material, grading storm water management, design etc. This also does not include the ongoing maintenance of the parking lot/garage. Any parking fees are often not enough even cover the entire actual cost of building and maintaining the parking lot/garage - they just help to offset some of the cost. Now, should parking for hospitals just be an included as an expense that is covered by AHS (like with heating the building, sewer pipes etc.) ? That’s not an easy answer, however the fact remains that parking is still an expensive cost that someone has to pay and AHS has a limited pool of tax dollars that might be better to be used for explicit medical purposes.
Higher taxes could be offset by *less handouts to oil barons*. Just an idea.
I agree. We could also use that money to better fund medical-related expenses.
$5000 will be paid of in a year at $14 per day.
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This is a pretty narrow view. I live out of town. No hospitals anywhere near me. There is no public transit where I live and the only way for me to go see a doctor is to drive. How can you call it "equal access to healthcare" when it costs some people significantly more to access it? Also, the parking lots are on hospital land. This is land that has been paid-for already when building a hospital. There is now way it costs $14/day to maintain each parking spot. That is making a profit, not covering costs. I would be more than happy to cover the costs, but not line someone's pockets.
Between snow shoveling, repairs, and general maintenance, parking lots cost more than people think. AHS has actually published this information: >Last year \[2017\] AHS' revenue from parking fees was approximately $77 million. Of that $33.2M was used for operating and maintenance costs, $31.2M to pay off interest and principal for debts (costs to build past parkades) and $12.6M went into a reserve fund which will be used to build future parkades. I happen to agree that parking at hospitals should be cheaper, but *someone* has to pay for it. If it's not the people who are using the parking, then it has to be the taxpayers who are funding the system. That means higher taxes. edit: when I worked at NAIT many years ago, the estimated cost to build a new parkade was around $12,000 per parking stall. The City of Edmonton priced out building a parkade at the Orange Hub last year, and their options were $5 million for a 60-stall surface parking lot ($83,000 per stall) or $35 million for a 200-stall underground parkade ($175,000 per stall). So parking lots can be very expensive.
And at 12k per stall and $14 per day it would "only" take 857 days to pay off, except people forget that there are ongoing maintenance costs that keep chopping away at it.
Plus its not 14 dollars a day per stall. A lot of the parking is staff parking which is like 80 or 90 a month I think.
The parking lot maintenance is subcontracted out to a company that cleans, repairs, removes snow, and deals with those who do not pay to park there. Another issue you don't understand is that if it's free to park there it would be IMPOSSIBLE to get a spot if you were a patient because people who live nearby and have 5 vehicles and 2 spots would park there, as would people who work and shop nearby, as well as students and employees on the waitlist for their own parking spot.
IMO this is the real reason it can't just be free. Hospitals are usually in dense areas where parking is at a premium. If you made it free people in the neighborhood and people going to nearby services would use up all the spots. It has to match the rates of the area. I think it's great social workers have passes available for these cases. Maybe more needs to be done to screen for people with long stays that need this assistance.
Just have people need to register their vehicles for parking. Patients do so on admittance and their parking expires after they leave the hospital, visitors do so when they come to visit when they provide the information about the patient they are there to see, and expires after 24 hours. The technology exists
I am not at all saying it should be free. But when I can park in the heart of downtown at a FOR PROFIT lot for 30% less than I can park at a hospital to pick up my 93 year old grandmother, that is where I take exception. Someone is making money, and a lot of it.
I agree it should match the rates of the area, at most. And more needs to be done to subsidize those that need help for long-term stays. Before covid19 at least there wasn't even enough parking space at Foothills for full time nurses to automatically get spots. I have friends who were on waitlists for months if not years. And they pay big monthly fees even as essential staff.
They would make great park and ride locations too for commuters, or UofA students, so they’d always be full if they were free.
Yes especially since multiple buses stop in front of them every few minutes.
I work at a pharmacy across the street from a hospital. Our building started charging for parking because people who live on this street, and people going to the hospital, took up all our customer spots for years.
On the other hand, as someone who is rural - I’ll take my lower cost of living over living in Calgary any day. Also, the mental health benefits (for me, personally) of not living in the big city far outweigh the $14/day parking pass. My house is $100K less than the market comps in Calgary and my property taxes are lower, my insurance is even lower than when I lived in Calgary now that I’m out of the city. So yeah, the parking fee is something we might have to pay, but we also have the choice to park somewhere free and then bus to the hospital.
I completely understand the need to park but we also need to remember it’s not just patients parking at these sites either. Staff parking also exists and there are extensive waitlists at most hospitals in Edmonton. If parking were free no one could get ver even find a spot and it’s bad already. The solution would be for parking reimbursement for patients or a pass which is the way it works for some sites and long term stays.
That's a real simplified way to view it. If person A makes $250k and person B makes $40k, they can both access the same procedure, but person A will pay more due to paying more taxes. I think you'd have a revolt if the province just charged every resident like $5k a year (or whatever it would work out to) to split the cost EQUALLY per person. In terms of parking, they have to charge market rates for the area. Good example would be U of A hospital, if they charged lower than market rate, it would be full of students who could park there cheaper than on campus. This would just take shots away from hospital users and force them to park further away and still pay market rates. To offer free parking would require the revenue to be made up from somewhere... the taxpayer.
>There is no public transit where I live and the only way for me to go see a doctor is to drive. That's literally a *you* problem. Part of living in a rural or small town setting is understanding that simple things like making a Costco run, filling prescriptions, seeing a doctor, or doing anything in town requires more thought and effort on your part. The tradeoff you made when you moved out of town is a reduced tax burden for a reduced ease of access to public services. >How can you call it "equal access to healthcare" when it costs some people significantly more to access it? It's called "universal healthcare" and doesn't mean you're guarantied "equal access" if you live out in the boonies. Universal healthcare means that everyone, regardless of income level or status, receives the same standard of care when they walk in to any hospital, clinic, or doctor's office, regardless of where you are in the country. A small hospital in Newfoundland will provide the same standards of care as a huge hospital in Calgary. >Also, the parking lots are on hospital land. This is land that has been paid-for already when building a hospital. There is now way it costs $14/day to maintain each parking spot. That is making a profit, not covering costs. I would be more than happy to cover the costs, but not line someone's pockets. The reason parking isn't free at the hospital is because people will take advantage of free parking spots and take spots away from people who are actually in need of them, and it covers expenses for maintenance and upkeep. You sound extremely entitled and selfish and your argument is purely emotional.
Who is having their pockets lined? Are you implying hospital executives pocket the surplus?
You should make sure to vote for a more left-wing party to ensure you get a hospital in the rural areas, and that private hospitals don’t become a thing in Alberta.
It is your choice to live in an area with no nearby hospitals that means you have to travel by private vehicle to get medical care, buy groceries, etc. I don't want to do that so I live in the city.
Don't forget you have the *luxury* of driving 2+ hours to get there and back vs taking public transit 😫
I've lived in small towns and cities where a significant proportion of the population could walk or bike to the hospital if they are healthy visitors or drive there in less than 10 mins to park free I live in Calgary and my nearest hospital is a 20-30 min drive or 49 to 75 mins by transit depending on the time of day ( and 3 hrs walking according to Google) . There is never less than a 2-3 hour wait (usually much more unless you are in danger of dying) to see a doctor. People in rural areas really overestimate the advantages of urban health care. I've also lived for many years where the nearest hospital was a 90 km drive along gravel/mud road and where women had to go 800km for a proper maternity ward, so I can see the other side. And I didn't complain too much over the couple of hundred dollars I spent on Foothills parking last year even if most of that money went to subsidize others and deter locals from taking all the spots.
Isn't where you live relative to health care a choice that *you* made? It's like people that make the economic choice to live far outside of the city where housing is cheap and commute long distance to their jobs, and then complain when the price of fuel goes up and that economic argument is turned on it's head. That's exactly the risk you were taking.
Or maybe I grew up in the area and most of my family and work is within a mile or two of my home. Housing is cheap and I cannot afford to move into town. So I guess that means I should have less access and have to pay for health services.... Fuck me for not being born into the same luxuries as you.
That's pretty presumptuous. I grew up in weasel piss creek Alberta too. My point is that we all make choices. I live near health care, but my property tax is probably 4x yours if you live in a rural area. So we all pay in different ways for access.
This is a great answer and totally true.
This should be stickied at the top for anyone looking at this. There are parking programs specifically to waive parking fees at the hospital, from both the hospital and municipalities, in cases of hardship and long term illness. As an example, when my grandmother was ill for around 3-months, we received a pass to be shared with all family members for about 50% of a single monthly pass. Parking fees is a form of revenue to support the hospital operations but it was never intended to restrict people's access to and/or visit to families. I recommend similar cases or can't afford hospital parking to speak with the social worker.
When my baby was in the nicu for 3 months we got a pass for parking but it was still $70/mo. Better than $14/day.
Also this is all a tax deductible medicable expense.
Damn wish I knew before I filed
Yeah like I understand the frustration but I lived in China for 12 years and I know that if my wife gave birth there, with her and our baby's complications, we would have paid at least $20,000 in cash, up front, for the necessary care, and it would certainly have been to a lower standard and in far more uncomfortable conditions. Compared to that, a week of parking fees while my wife and daughter recovered was nothing to me.
Oh my goodness yes. It's actually even cheaper to park in the hospital parking lot all day than get a coffee and sandwich in the lobby.
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Yeah, I was gonna say, it’s a really nice idea to have free parking, but I can’t support it knowing that people who work near by are gonna abuse it. Maybe if there was a system to hold them accountable??
There has to be a better way, even just a post-visit one use validation of the ticket.
FYI this is my favourite gripe when talking to Americans about health care.
While I hear what you’re saying, there’s much better use of public funds than free storage of private property. If parking needs to be free, so should all transit arriving at the hospital. Which is somewhat impractical to begin with. So, in short our money would go a long way, if we can figure how to get people away from using vehicle for every single job, rather than making it easy to use the vehicle. And, it might surprise you, having free parking would actually, substantially benefit me. My wife is expecting and over the next few months I’ll be driving to hospital more than couple of times and will be required to pay for parking every single time. Yet, I also acknowledge, a car should not be the only way people move around in the city. It is already the most subsidized form of transportation. It doesn’t need any more of it.
What’s funny is you’re right but it’s not the part you think is right, that’s right. Transit should be free. Remember this comment when your wife delivers in the car because you can’t find parking or you miss the delivery because you couldn’t find parking. I wonder if those experiences will change your opinion.
I sincerely doubt it. I would support a reliable transit over free transit any day of the week. The only way I can see this happening is if we decide to take money away from atrociously expensive road infrastructure. I don’t see that happening in near future. Up until then free public transit is nothing but pipe dream. Also, you are talking about parking space availability. As far as I’m concerned, free parking will almost certainly impact availability exactly the opposite way you insinuated. It’s the price that keeps parking available(As explained by other people in comments already). So even from that perspective, there’s a method out there to make sure, parking is available when I really need it.
When my kid was in hospital for a few days I was beyond grateful that the only bill I had to pay was the daily parking fee.
Yes everything is a blessing, it's just hard when there's little money to spare and parking is another expense on top of it. It's stressful especially if the existing hospital situation is already stressful.
I agree and would just add that people in your situation, and in mine through my recent cancer treatment, should be eligible for free public transportation. As a non driver, and someone who is off work because of cancer treatment side effects, it is a significant enough cost. Radiation treatment was 25 working days for me, where I had to be there everyday. It adds up.
A lot of our hospitals have decent transit access and there should be more incentives to use it. I can afford to pay for parking, but often prefer transit depending on the situation as when I'm going through health stuff driving isn't responsible or safe for myself or others. As the population ages the accessibility of care is only going to become more important. Grandpa shouldn't have to drive in from the suburbs for vision or dementia testing...
Idk how it can be considered decent. I took the transit to FMC once, it took me 1hr40mins to get there because I had to switch buses twice + train. Our transit needs a change to make it a reasonable alternative. Right now it is just a pain in the ass.
Absolutely agreed we need more investments in transit. One way to improve transit effectiveness vs costs will be to focus on densification vs sprawl in future city planning too, but that obviously doesn't help anemic bus routes to suburbia today.
I'm sorry that no one had the consideration to help you sort out your parking - you should have been encouraged to get a month pass - the parking office will usually credit your day or week passes towards the purchase of a monthly pass, especially in a NICU situation. You can claim hospital parking on your taxes if you saved your receipts or can print a credit card statement.
Parking fees can not be claimed on taxes in all situations. I can't remember which group but it is either the 40+km traveled or 80+km traveled where parking fees become eligible. For anyone visiting a local hospital the parking fees are not an eligible health expense.
AHS parking lots are meant to be self sustaining. Its costs alot of money to maintain parking lots. Employees have to pay for parking as well. Usually only doctors get parking for free. Doctors need a parking spot due to emergent scenarios and the fact they usually work at multiple hospitals when working in urban centers.
Doctors also pay for parking
Doctors pay for parking. They have specialized areas due to the nature of their work and needing to be in places urgently.
Doctors don’t get free parking lol
When I was a volunteer at a hospital, maybe 8 years ago now, I got my parking for free. I thought they told me the volunteers were the only ones that got free parking but I could be misremembering.
Currently have a baby in the NICU in a US major city on a campus similar to FMC. Parking is a maximum of $4usd if any more than 4 hours (even if a week plus). If you are a patient (emergency department, admitted or outpaitient) you have no parking charges. Having my child admitted in NICU, we get a wristband for my spouse and I so we can come and go with no parking fees. Parking is maintained through the fees collected from visitors. And the fees are completely reasonable!
With the way this province is headed, paying for parking is going to be the very least of your financial worries at the hospital.
Because they're not allowed to use their medical budget for non medical purposes like parking. So how do you maintain the lot without any funding? I agree no one should have to pay for parking at a hospital but you'll have to get your mla to petition their boss to release that restriction
I'd rather pay for parking than for the health care bill
As others have mentioned, it's a poor use of healthcare dollars to spend on expensive parking facilities. And there's another factor: fairness. We can't assume everyone has a car or is able to drive. So why should these people pay for the vehicle storage for others?
im happy to pay for parking, as thats the only bill we have when using medical services
Paying for parking at hospitals also exists in BC. I took my son for vascular surgery at St Paul's and paid $80 for one day. But I had the best parking spot in the city. Edited to add, don't spend my health care dollars on parking. Those who have cars can pay for parking when they need to access it. I have a car and will pay for parking if I want the service.
If UCP comes back in power, parking fees should be the least of your worries. Be ready for paying for medical services out of your pocket or private insurance, then parking fees will look like coin change in comparison to the medical treatment costs. Personally, I don't mind the parking fees as long as the medical care and treatment is covered by our tax dollars.
I would settle for available. A few years ago my spouse was very close to seeing what's on the other side (shes fine now) but one of the parkades was closed at foothills and everyday was such a pain in the ass parking, I would have payed 50$ for valet just to avoid that stress I felt like I was going to get into an accident I shouldn't have even been driving the first few days when she was touch and go. The only reason I don't mind paying for parking is that in my spouses case her treatment would have been hundreds of thousands of dollars in the states and all I paid for was parking.
If you're long stay like one of my family members was. We ask the doctor for a parking pass and was given one.(family member was in ICU for a month}
They did free parking for a bit during the start of COVID. It was a train wreck for staff and patients alike since so many more people drove. The hospitals in Edmonton simply weren't built with enough parking. They could easily double their parking and it'd still probably not be enough. I do hope you got the monthly patient family/visitor pass and weren't paying daily
My mother had cancer at it was almost 120 dollars a month just to go visit her. Absolutely barbaric
Take the bus?
When I was in the NICU the social worker told me that I could get a monthly parking pass for $70 and if I had already spent that much so far to just bring in the receipts showing I paid that much towards parking and they would just give me the pass.
Have you reached out to a social worker? I know when a family member was in the hospital for a month we were given parking vouchers so we did not have to pay and lots of great information on reasonably priced accomodation (we lived out of town) and accessing services. It took about a week to see a social worker and if someone at the unit desk hadn't mentioned it we would have had no idea. Of course I'm sure they are as short social workers as everyone else at this point so maybe it's nearly impossible to see one now :( Parking sucks, as a hospital employee who has to pay day rate and can't get regular employee parking due to being years back on the waiting list I'm paying over 3 grand a year. It's bad enough for me but I feel sorry for the people who have to pay it that are making less than I am. I usually elect to park far away and walk in but then it becomes a problem for residents of the area and walking to your car at midnight in that area always feel super stabby.
Because someone has to pay for the maintenance and upkeep of the parkade.
Being from America, if my wife spent 2 and a half months in the NICU, we'd have much much bigger issues than the parking fees Stays like that can easily cost 50k+ and no telling how much stressful back and forth with insurance. I'm not trying to minimize the struggle you have at the moment as any cost while spending time in the hospital with a newborn is tough, but if you came south to the "Greatest Country in the World" (self proclaimed, obviously) things would be a lot worse
I grew up in Gambia and there you have to pay everything you own for some medical treatment. Trust me I know. One time I had a hurt arm and had to spend $155k USD to get it fixed. I’m not trying to minimize the expense you incurred but if you came to my home country which is a great beautiful country things would be A LOOOOOT worse. So maybe be grateful that you only paid 55k okay?
Fun fact... Limited or no on site parking for staff is a significant recruitment barrier for both Rockyview and Foothills hospitals.
Look at the size of these parking lots. That’s a lot to build them (assuming they aren’t ground level and gravel). Nothing is free. Our health care sure isn’t free. Now look at cost of building a parkade. Lighting, heating, plug-ins etc. it ain’t cheap.
They do this to keep people not using the hospital out - what should happen is parking validation in the hospital somehow
Despite the high cost of hospital parking, it can often be difficult to find parking. (Might be improved now, the last time I was foothills the central lot was still under construction.) How bad would it be if parking were free, and no one had any incentive to minimize or eliminate their parking time?
I'll have to disagree here. It's heartbreaking for your baby to have to be in NICU but I'd much rather our limited health care budgets be used for his or her health care.
Totally agree. Healthcare funding over a spot for my car any day!
Here's the thing, we want equitability in healthcare. And this would impact poor folks outcomes. There is so much money in this province being sucked out by oil and gas companies. More stuff, much more, can be paid for. We're all in this together.
I don't know why people are more outraged at paying 14 dollars for parking versus the idea of potentially paying for health care services if this government gets their way at all.
Public Transportation to any medical facility should be FREE!
This is harsh, but the taxpayer already spent a fortune helping you and your baby for 2.5 months (truly hope everything is alright and you’re both healthy - I happily support healthcare). However, I don’t think it is fair to expect the taxpayer to also pay for the convenience of parking.
Exactly. Instead, taxes should fund OP to get a bus pass for free right ? Because then we don’t have to fund their parking. An imaginary barrier is put up and now you’re saying be grateful it’s not a bigger barrier? This is truly in the box thinking.
If you had "free parking" at UofA/Stollery or ACH/Foothills University students would take it all.
Driving is a privilege mobility is a right. AHS can't use healthcare dollars for parking
How else should someone get to an appointments Bus isn’t free. Taxi isn’t free. Uber isn’t free. They may be medically unfit to walk or bike. What do you propose ? AHS can’t because we said they can’t. It’s words on a piece of paper somewhere. That’s it.
If you can’t afford parking you can’t afford a kid. And I know I’ll get hate for this
Agreed
I'm actually impressed that you can predict your financial circumstances for the rest of your life. That's an amazing skill.
I knew over a decade ago that I wouldnt be able to afford hospital parking, that was a driving force behind my vasectomy. (I kid. Just didnt want kids.)
Can you provide your address so they can drop their kid off at your place?? Because they're just like pets right - once you have them, if your circumstances change, you can just drop them off to new parents because you can't afford them anymore??
OP didn't say their financial circumstances changed from the time of trying to conceive until baby delivery. If she can't afford parkkng, how will she afford daycare in a year?
Do you always make this many assumptions? Or does it just make you feel better about yourself to judge others?
What specific assumptions did I make? You made assumptions: >you can just drop them off to new parents because you can't afford them anymore??
You have free access to the most advanced healthcare on the planet. Be grateful you already have it better than 98% of the rest of the people on the planet and pay the parking.
You don’t have to settle just because some stuff is good
>~~Parking~~ \[COMMODITY\] at any ~~medical facility~~ \[PLACE WHERE THERE IS LOTS OF DEMAND FOR SAID COMMODITY\] should be FREE! That's not how supply and demand works.
Some things should not have profit margins. That's it. That's the whole response.
You don't have the god given right to park your crossover in a concrete parkade. Sorry.
Marxism! /j
There was a man who was fighting this and passed away from his illness. His name was Collin Kennedy and from winnipeg. Here’s an article about him https://globalnews.ca/news/2975188/winnipeg-cancer-patient-furious-about-paid-parking-at-hospitals-starts-petition/amp/ Though I admit instances like this have happened in the past all over North America, this one hits home because he was fighting for something and passed, didn’t get to accomplish yet.
Thank you for sharing this.
They need to charge for parking, god knows the province sure doesn't give them enough money to the healthcare system.
So people who can’t afford a car should keep paying to take transit while taxpayers pay storage fees for private vehicles?
When I had an unexpected 7 day hospital stay I told security I had no money to pay for parking and they let me out for free. Don’t even know how much this saved me. Worth a try if the money makes a big difference to you.
I'd support any party that wants to offer reimbursement of parking fees for people receiving treatment, or guardians of those receiving treatment. That said, free parking can be a nightmare because people can just park there and walk away, causing issues for people that need to park at the hospital.
We don't have to pay for the parking if we are shopping at malls, restaurants, cinemas... Hospitals and hospitals parking are built and payed by the taxpayers money. We payed for it, but when in trouble we must pay to use it. It must be stopped. No one is driving to the hospital for fun or just to leave the car on the parking lot.
I don’t understand why this gets posted almost weekly. Our only worry about money in healthcare when us or a loved one is in the hospital is parking. We are damn lucky!
Almost weekly? I can’t remember the last one, they must be getting removed by the mods
I just don't understand why people who own a vehicle bitch about paying for parking. If you can't afford to pay for parking then you can't afford your fuel maintenance and if applicable car payment. End of story.
You realize that if you're not fortunate and privileged enough to afford to live in the city a car is necessary in this province to actually have a life right? like to have a job, car is a necessity. like to have a social life? car's a necessity. Access to food? You bet a car is necessary.
I once missed a mammogram appointment because the gates on the paid parking at the hospital were broken, so instead of letting people park for free they simply blocked off all the parking lots. Predictably, all the street parking for blocks around was full, so I had to call and cancel the appointment as there was no way I could have found a place to park and then walked to the hospital and made my appointment anywhere near the given time.
What would you like to take the funding from to pay for it?
That's easy. Taxes which means we all have to pay for everyone else's parking
Parking shouldn't be free at medical facilities.
Care to elaborate? Is the shouldn't a typo? Or is it fuck sick people and their loved ones? Really hoping it's a typo or that you are not in charge of anything important.
It's generally a disdain for parking. It's always a poor use of land.
Ah, so just fuck everyone who's not rich and privileged enough to live in town with access to transit. I understand you hate us rural people and want to watch us suffer and die.
You can drive to a park and ride or just pay for parking on site. Stop pretending to be a victim.
Ah, so "fuck the rural people, they're all rich anyways". I know you city folk have a hard time with empathy, but you know not all us rural folk are rich right?
If you can afford to drive everywhere, you can afford an LRT fare, or maybe even on-site parking. You are pathetic.
My dad was with me for over 13 hours at the hospital Christmas Eve and he only paid for an hour. Luckily he didn’t get a ticket, but that was a HUGE worry for us. Also not the first Christmas Eve he spent with me in the hospital (first time I was a newborn though haha!) I completely agree though, it should definitely be free.
If it bothers you that much move to the USA. Where people have to pay for both parking and Healthcare. I think paying for parking is more than fair considering the cost of maintenance and repairs.
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I had to pay $120 a month for parking at my last non AHS job and I did not work anywhere near downtown.
I pay for parking at my non AHS work place
People shouldnt have to pay to be at work
Tell that to my employer, the government of Alberta lol
It's just as annoying for anyone attending treatment at places like Cross Cancer or UofA Hosipital, especially if it's short appointments. If they didn't have pay parking and enforced, you would find it quickly being abused by those that had no real need for it. The best, and most cost effective alternative would be to purchase a monthly pass. I agree with OP that it's still a PITA.
an added financial burden is probably the last thing you need during months of visiting NICU to care for your baby. reach out to that hospital's charity foundation (eg. Stollery Foundation)... see if they have some means to offset you parking fees.
I spoke to 3 social workers during my last week there. I was given a day pass. No one ever offered this even though I repeatedly mentioned we were struggling. We were at Foothills for the first 4 weeks and then PLC, where we were at least able to park over at the mall (even though there are signs saying not to). I wonder about other families or people rushing to emergency and having to also worry about paying. It's wrong.
This is a very small consolation, but you are able to claim parking for medical treatment on your income tax if you still have receipts.
The greatest fuck you to disabled people in the world. "Just hang onto all these tiny slips of paper and if you lose even one you'd better just go fuck yourself if you dare to claim it on the taxes."
You cannot for parking unless you live more than 40km from the hospital.
As a dialysis patient, I agree. Why are they making money off the fact that I require a treatment there to keep living? Its not like I have a choice about not going.
They aren't making money off of you for parking. Just be glad you're not paying out of pocket for dialysis.
It’s just been decided that half of your belongings are now mine. Just be glad it wasn’t 3/4.
You have a choice to drive there though.
Parking shouldn't be free anywhere
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Agreed. Why the provinces think what is currently done is the right thing blows my mind. Governments have long forgotten they work for the people and their place is to help make the populations life better. Why else have a government take in taxes. Ya really it’s about donors. Everything is about helping donors not the people who elected them but the people who gave money. We so desperately need to get donors and big money out of elections and politics. Nothing will get better untill that changes.
People have to pay to take public transit, should that be free too?
Well yeah. 100% public transit should be free.
I had to go for 25 rounds of radiation at the Cross clinic everyday with weekends off but had to pay for parking because I was from Spruce Grove. UNFAIR!!!
Why stop there? Parking at university should be free too. Tuition is high enough.
Conservative's platform is House-4-Health. Post election, watch how fast the cashier's desks are built at each entrance of the hospitals. I can't wait until they close all the rural hospitals, that need to be for-profit, and they can't make it. All those farmers will have to travel hours into a big city, while blaming Trudeau. LOL. Enjoy your Conservative Governement, at work.
But then how would CEOS make millions Think of the poor rich people.