Medical associations call for end to hospital parking fees
Posted November 28, 2011 8:43 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – An editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal is calling on hospitals to stop charging patients for parking.
Acting Editor Dr. Rajendra Kalé says he sometimes has patients leave appointments before the work is finished, because they’re worried their parking meter will expire.
“That seems to be interfering with the clinical process of getting the history, examination, talking to them about side effects and so on, and they often wait a long time to get appointments as we know, but that’s a separate issue,” he says.
The Ottawa neurologist says paid parking is a “user fee in disguise.”
BC Medical Association (BCMA) President Dr. Nasir Jetha agrees. The pediatrician says when parents bring in their kids, they’re often more concerned with plugging the metre than asking the right medical questions.
“It’s all about facilitating that experience of the patient contact with the healthcare system,” he says. “If we can remove any deterrents to that, I think we would be doing a great service to our patients.”
The CMA points out that in Scotland, parking at public hospitals has been free since fees were abolished in 2008. It argues charging patients for parking runs contrary to the health policy objective of the Canada Health Act and could become the subject of a legal challenge.
