Mum charged $500 to park at hospital

[okarol]

Mum charged $500 to park at hospital
Article from: The Daily Telegraph

By Gemma Jones

January 13, 2009 12:00am

THE Children's Hospital, Westmead has told a mother about to donate a kidney to her daughter she will have to pay $500 in parking fees.

The case of South Granville mother Kristy Hite has exposed the confusion and heartlessness of the hospital's new parking policy.

The Daily Telegraph this week revealed the State Government's plan to privatise hospital car parks and Westmead's proposal to increase fees at its car park.

Ms Hite's daughter Lily, 4, has been sick since she was born and the struggling family was entitled to free parking.

Hospital parking an insult to parents

Last month a hospital social worker said the free parking would be revoked and Ms Hite would have to pay for parking for at least two months until the hospital could consider her case.

If Ms Hite parks at the hospital - which is now charging $16 a day, up from $12 - during visits before and after her daughter's operation she would pay about $512.

When The Daily Telegraph alerted the hospital to Ms Hite's plight yesterday, a spokeswoman said there had been a miscommunication and the family would continue to be allowed to park free.

"She (the social worker) said she was looking into what we could do further down the track," Ms Hite said yesterday. "She said I would have to pay for a couple of months until they worked something out, it was a very vague conversation we had.

"It is the worst time for them to cancel that card, we're going to live here for at least a month."

Ms Hite has moved from Nowra to South Granville and borrowed money to stay afloat. Before the hospital returned her parking privileges, she said she would have to park blocks from the hospital and walk to see her daughter despite undergoing serious surgery to have her kidney removed.

"That cost isn't even an option . . . I am in debt up to my eyeballs," she said. "I am amazed you have to pay at all and the price is ridiculous."

Health Minister John Della Bosca said yesterday he had called the hospital to ensure families were given proper consideration. A spokeswoman for the hospital said Ms Hite would be provided with free parking.

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24904137-5006009,00.html?from=public_rss

[paul.karen]

??

You have to pay to park at a hospital.

S.A.D.

[kitkatz]

 

[RichardMEL]

??

You have to pay to park at a hospital.

S.A.D.

oh yeah! Very common. At my hospital parking is an absolute premium but at least the dialysis unit has some deal where patients coming in only have to pay $2 for their parking which is a good deal IMHO. I'm lucky I live across the road (and don't drive) so not an issue for me but I do feel for those that do have to deal with that extra on top of everything.

[Chris]

Didn't you talk about that in an old post RichardMel?

Sad they changed their mind because  the newspaper got involved.

The three university transplant hospitals here charge for parking and get a discount if your a patient or are there seeing the doctor there. You just have to get a validation slip that said you were there. Get's expensive, $11.00 at my transplant hospital.

[Lucinda]

I use to work for the Telegraph and I wrote a similar story about  parking fees years ago.  A woman contacted me who had parked her car when her son was rushed to hospital in a critical condition and she didn't leave the hospital or his side for four days.  Her parking ticket came to about $150 and they wouldn't let her have her car until she paid it.  There are definitely circumstances where all parking fees should be waived but according to our hospitals, they need the revenue.  Parking fees at hospitals here in Australia are hefty but our medical system is generally excellent.

[mikey07840]

The hospital I go to charges minimum $3.50 max $8.00 per day for parking. The only patients that don't pay are Dialysis center patients who can get free self parking at the main self parking deck or cancer center patients that are allowed free valet parking at the cancer center valet stand. Each department validates for their patients. When I went in for same day surgery I had to pay $2.00- they validated for a discount only. (Same day surgery enters through the valet at the Cancer Center.)

The hospital has a self-parking visitor parking deck, a valet parking deck and an employee parking deck. The hospital is in a town where all parking is pay parking and if they didn't charge visitors, people not visiting the hospital would park there.