An elderly couple with cancer says it is just impossible to find a parking spot when going to the hospital for treatment in Halifax, now that it is free.
Barb Campbell tells our newsroom she and her husband Greg are both 75-years-old, live 30 miles away and battle cancer.
She went through her treatments five years ago, but Greg is currently treating his lung cancer which has metastasized to his hip, causing mobility issues.
“So, he has to be dropped off at the front door. Well, we can’t find a parking spot for the car. We have [now] found a local parking area. We call Casino Taxi. We like them quite nicely,” says Barb.
Barb says once Greg is finished with his treatments, they call the taxi to take them back to where their car is parked – costing them $30 there and back.
The old way
Barb worked at the Victoria General for 35 years in social work before retiring in 2009.
She says parking was bad then, but not like it is now.
“I usually went to this apartment building on South Street, and I would pay monthly parking for my spot to park there. Then I would walk to the hospital,” says Barb.
This, she says, is a much better way to do things.
Parking has now been free at all hospitals and healthcare facilities across the province since May 1 but has been a contentious issue for staff ever since, with a shortfall of roughly 4,000 spaces.
Jumped too quick
Barb says she thinks the province jumped into the free parking initiative too quickly and she is having none of it.
“I was wild because they are not being a patient and seeing what it’s like to try to drive around in a circle to find a parking spot. They haven’t walked the walk. They are doing a word of mouth versus seeing the real life. The real life is in your car,” adds Barb.
“You’re driving around in circles. You’re looking both ways, trying to find seeing if anybody is going to leave. You’re looking at your clock thinking, ‘Okay the appointment is at 10:00. It’s now 9:30, am I going to get in?’ This free parking business… nothing in this world is free.”
Barb adds that the work being done at the QEII for the expansion is not helping the matter.
“The Robie Street entrance is blocked off because they were doing all the work on it. We find the parkade across the way really too long if you’ve got mobility issues,” notes Barb.
$500 ticket
Nova Scotia Health is looking into issuing a $500 ticket to any vehicle parked at the QEII that has no reason to be at the hospital, as a deterrent.
Barb says this is a wonderful idea but has concerns with how they will enforce it.
“I want it back to the old way to be honest with you. You’re not going to be able to police that and what a waste of police services,” adds Barb.
However, she says, a ticket of this nature is how it should be.
“They’ve got to remember, hospitals are for patients, and if the patients can’t get their treatments…chemotherapy treatments are, some of them are four hours long,” says Barb.
“My radiation treatments were…you’re looking at [at] least an hour and a half. The hospitals are for patients. We have to make it easy for them.”
Nova Scotia Health says they are looking into every possible option to help the parking issue in Halifax and have “turned over every rock”.
