Starting Monday July 11, work will get underway at each of the Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare (MAHC) hospital sites to replace the parking system.
The parking system replacement is scheduled to occur at the Huntsville District Memorial Hospital (HDMH) Site July 11 to 15, followed by the South Muskoka Memorial Hospital (SMMH) Site July 18 to 22, weather pending. Sequential lane closures will occur through each replacement project, and those coming and going from the hospitals are asked to heed the temporary closures and exercise caution and patience around the construction.
The new parking system requires a full replacement of all parking gates, will introduce touch-free methods, and will allow for debit payments at both the pay-on-foot stations in the lobby and at the parking gates at exit.
“Replacing the obsolete infrastructure that is 15 years old with new modern-day technology will mean more convenience for our commuting public, and patients and families accessing the hospitals,” adds President and Chief Executive Officer Cheryl Harrison.
Parking rates remain unchanged at both MAHC sites. The first 15 minutes are free of charge; a $3 rate applies for the first half-hour, and $2 for each subsequent half hour to a per-visit maximum of $7. Day passes provide the user 24 hours of access to the hospital with unlimited in and out privileges for $10. Weekly parking (7 day) passes are $30 and monthly (30 day) parking passes are $50.
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I know it is just a small part of costs but somehow it always irritates me that when I do need to go to the hospital for some procedure or other that after all the check-in process and wait times which are in themselves not conducive to a joyful day, I am then subject to a parking charge. I always sort of thought that patients should be given a sort of token of some kind to allow them free parking. They already usually have lots of issues on their minds.
Visitors can and should expect to pay.
The 15 minute free bit is a good idea but if you have actually gone to the hospital for anything lately you will find that 15 minutes is inadequate to actually get any service completed. I stress that no disrespect for hospital staff is intended by this comment as the wait is generally not of their making and happens despite their best efforts. Still this 15 minutes is about right just to get from the lobby to your car and exit the lot, and even then, in winter it may not be adequate by the time you clean snow off your car.
Somehow, when I sit in the ER waiting room with blood leaking from part of me, I find the thought that I’m accumulating a parking charge as I wait sort of bothers me in that vague illogical way that things of this nature have a habit of so doing. It would just be a nice gesture if I was exempt from the parking fee as a patient.