The province’s health minister says the free parking program at hospitals and healthcare facilities has some “growing pains”.
Michelle Thompson says the province has been working closely with Nova Scotia Health and the IWK on it and there will be “tweaks” in the foreseeable future.
“What we need to do is strike the right balance between allocation for patients and allocation for staff and make sure that we have the right mix,” says Thompson.
Parking has been free at hospitals and healthcare facilities since May 1 and since then, spots have been filling up fast, especially at the QEII which is undergoing an expansion.
Logistics
There are 1,500 to 1,800 patient appointments every day.
Thompson says, taking that into consideration, you can have the best “laid out plans” for a program like this but they need to understand things like how parking flows and length of appointments.
“We’ll get there. There are bumps. Certainly, parking is at a premium in the city, and we know that. So, I have confidence in the IWK and Nova Scotia Health to get us to the place we need to be,” adds Thompson.
But the increase in demand was expected.
“We anticipated it. I’m walking by certain parking lots, and there is capacity,” adds Thompson.
Complaints
Staff are currently unable to park at the QEII between 8:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., Monday to Friday and many end up paying to park at alternative lots when spots get full.
The NSGEU as well as political officials have called on the province to fix parking for healthcare staff after receiving an abundance of complaints.
Thompson says the feedback from staff has been helpful but there are some “very smart folks” working on this and they ask for patience.
Overall, she says, patients seem very happy with it.
