Sunday 7 August 2016

$1,000 hospital parking fee - single mother with sick child (petition)

Sign petition here against hospital parking fees
It's been a while since I drove (the police don't like me having a licence you know) but during the many months of my late wife's stay in Prince of Wales hospital in Randwick I was still driving. Luckily though as a local, instead of parking underground in their outrageously expensive privately run parking lot under the hospital I simply used the local streets surrounding it to park. 

Generally there was free all day parking across the road from the hospital for my daily 2 hour or so visits. How they could justify charging such extreme amounts for relatives of the sick to park across the road on hospital grounds is something I never understood.

 Seems that things have gotten worse at hospitals for parking. Now a Monique Garcia has outrageously copped a $1,000 fine when she took her sick child to an Emergency dept with chest pains. Perhaps even more outrageous is that it's only $200 if paid before a certain date. 

 Even $200 is way over the top and price gouging, but an $800 penalty for not paying before a certain date? WTF? Is that even legal? 

 Monique has now started a petition to the PM and state ministers to end parking fees at hospitals. And why not? Why should the sick and vulnerable have to be bled dry by greedy parking companies?
Dear Prime Minister. 

I am a single mother putting herself through Uni, whilst fundraising for rare disease research to fix gaps in the system that you won't fix (i.e.:funding rare disease research). 

Yesterday I took my chronically ill child to the emergency department for chest pains. I did not even think about getting a parking ticket. I was more concerned with getting Nathan seen by a doctor. I got a fine, and usually I would just cop it on the chin and pay the $50-60! It was my fault. 

However, it is outrageous to charge me $1,000!! I then see the fine will be reduced to $200 if paid before 31/8. Happy to pay the fine but at a reasonable penalty! This experience highlighted a much bigger issue - that being any Australian having to fork out money for parking whilst tending to their loved ones in hospital. 

I am disgusted to hear from members of our community that people have been forced to tend to the meter in amongst operations, distressed family members, and even children's deaths! 

Why are we being charged for visiting a hospital. Families with sick family members are already severely disadvantaged. We do not go there by choice. As if life isn't hard enough. sign here  

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