QEH parking lot lottery
P.E.I. man claims staff are parking in hospital lot, taking away spaces from public
A Charlottetown man says the Queen Elizabeth Hospital is not forcing staff to use a parking lot that is designated for them.
Chris Roumbanis, 68, a frequent visitor to the referral hospital, says he has made formal complaints about hospital staff leaving their vehicles in the main parking lot that is meant for patients and visitors.
“I’ve made three formal complaints over the last three years … and I’ve heard nothing after the fact,” Roumbanis said. “I offered to make a sign that read, ‘no staff allowed’, ‘no staff parking unless previously arranged by management because of a medical condition,’ or whatever. I said I would pay for it. They told me it was an issue they were trying to deal with … and that I didn’t have to make a sign.”
Roumbanis was a patient at the hospital last year for about a month and has visited the facility recently for a relative. He says finding a spot to park is difficult.
About 1,200 patients and visitors access the hospital every day.
“I finally found a spot over by Riverside Drive,” he said, referring to the far side of the main parking lot.
FEES LIFTED IN 2016
Parking has been free at the hospital since the Wade Maclauchlan government made removed the fee in 2016.
The decision to make parking free at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital brings it in line with all other Island hospitals that offer free parking.
It was expected that free parking would save patients and visitors $375,000 a year.
When fees were charged, they were waived for patients with long-term treatment schedules, including those receiving care at the P.E.I. Cancer Treatment Centre, hemodialysis unit and emergency department.
The Queen Elizabeth Hospital first introduced parking fees in 1993 to raise additional revenue.
NOT PERMITTED
Saltwire contacted Health P.E.I. about doing an interview with administration at the hospital, but received a statement instead.
Health P.E.I. said it recognizes that parking can be limited at its sites.
“Staff are assigned specific parking areas and are not permitted to park in patient parking, unless that have a specific accessibility requirement that is supported by a medical note,” the statement reads.
“Higher patient volumes have meant parking is more limited than in the past.
The issue is being monitored.”
When asked specifically if staff are parking in the main parking lot, Everton Mclean, senior communications officer with Health P.E.I., said "only if they have a medical note indicating they need to be close to a more accessible entrance, which may be the main parking lot, depending on their accessibility issue. Otherwise, they are not permitted to park here."
When pressed again as to whether staff regularly use the parking lot whether or not they are permitted to, Mclean said it is continuously monitored and the "majority would be visitors and patients" parked in the main lot.
GRATEFUL IT'S FREE
Roumbanis said he thinks some staff members have gotten into the habit of using the main parking lot.
Roumbanis said he was told by one member of administration that there have been meetings on the issue and that administrators are trying to deal with it, but little has changed.
“I’m grateful that we don’t have to pay,” Roumbanis said.
“I like that, but I just think staff have taken advantage of that because they never parked there before when people had to pay.”