Parking fees are really beginning to tick me off. Last night I ended up parking a bit of a ways from the entrance to the health centre as I’m really trying to avoid racking up any more parking fees than I already have. I got just a wee bit chilly on the way in, and a little more on my way out. Of course on my way out I was also heading for a very cold car. Brrrr.
As I turned on the heater driving home a collection of half a dozen parking slips flew off the dash into my face. Thankfully they didn’t distract me from my driving at all (yes sarcasm) and after narrowly avoiding a bloody calming circle (that’s a whole other rant) I realized that those little slips represented 30 or 40 dollars and I got all riled up.
In the past month, although I’ve admittedly spent a great deal of time at hospitals or health centers, I have ended up spending around a hundred dollars on parking alone. These days it’s an annoyance (albeit a big annoyance) and not a disastrous impact on our budget but still it hurts. Ten years ago we were in a much different financial situation and that extra hundred would have had a much larger impact on us. I can’t help but think of those who are either ill or caring for loved ones who are on fixed incomes and what the parking fees must do to them.
The fact of the matter is for some driving is the only way to get to a hospital, and some cannot park farther away as I do due to illness or disability. Having parking near a hospital is simply a necessity however are parking fees? Not only any parking fees either but the highest fees found anywhere in the city?
Now coincidentally The Globe and Mail printed an article about this very issue a few days ago and there have been several others since (CBC, The Star, Global) . I’ve read them all with interest and I must say I find myself in favor of abolishing parking fees. At the very least I wish a way could be found to make parking more affordable and accessible to those on fixed incomes or who are facing a long term illness or have immediate family expecting a long term stay.
The only question in my mind that really carries weight on this issue is this: Do parking fees in any way hinder access to our health care system? The fact of the matter is that yes it is sometimes a hindrance to receiving care, as is not having relatives able to afford to visit a hindrance to healing.
That right there is the only thing that matters and why a validated parking system or the abolishment of parking fees surrounding hospitals needs to be considered. I believe as do most other Canadians that we all deserve equal access to our health care system, it’s why we have this system in the first place, if parking fees are presenting a barrier to some it needs to be remedied.
