New Westminster city council is concerned about the “heartless” way people are treated when they park outside the emergency department at Royal Columbian Hospital.
Mary Vaughan, 93, recently asked her daughter to write a letter to the city on her behalf. She spent two months in the hospital after having a stroke.
“As a resident of New Westminster, now in Royal Columbian Hospital, I feel it is horrible for everyone that the parking cost is so high, at the hospital and medical offices nearby,” she wrote in a letter to council last month. “When you are going to emergency and have to watch your watch to go and pay more. Also when you see the enforcement officer waiting to ticket you. Also the fact that nurses and doctors have to pay for parking is terrible.”
Coun. Jaimie McEvoy said people attending emergency could be there for hours, making it challenging for people to know when is a good time to duck out and pay for parking. He believes the hospital has to show some consideration for people who are going to emergency or taking loved ones to the emergency ward.
“To me, it is so heartless,” said Coun. Chuck Puchmayr, who thinks there has got to be a better way to handle parking outside the emergency department.
Puchmayr said people sometimes go to emergency for life and death situations and don’t have the time to pay for parking. He said the city should take the issue up with the provincial government to see if something can be done.
Council will write to the health minister, Fraser Health and Royal Columbian Hospital about the issue of parking.
Puchmayr recently visited Royal Columbian Hospital to deliver popcorn to hospital staff on behalf of transplant patients. He received a $48 ticket while parked in the parking lot.
“I will pay it. I am culpable for that,” he said. “I wasn’t waiting to get treated.”
