Ontario faces new push to eliminate hospital parking fees, but policy questions remain

When Marie Grgic's parent was diagnosed with uterine cancer, she said her begetter had to usage his status funds to concern costs related to her treatment. 

Cancer costs the mean diligent astir $33,000, which includes out-of-pocket expenses and mislaid income, according to the Canadian Cancer Society. 

"The outgo of crab is parking, it's the care, it's the infirmary visits, it's the infirmary beds, the medication," Grgic said. 

"Why are we having to spell into our status funds, our recognition cards, our lines of credit when we person an OHIP card?" 

Grgic is among those supporting a backstage member's measure that seeks to destruct infirmary parking fees crossed Ontario, introduced aft Nova Scotia removed them earlier this month. The measure is improbable to pass. But the impact connected infirmary funding, enforcement and equity for those without vehicles should beryllium addressed, a argumentation adept says. 

NDP MPP Jeff Burch (Niagara Centre) tabled a question connected Wednesday to destruct the fees for patients, families and infirmary workers — the party's 2nd effort to code the contented successful little than a year. 

"This is simply a communal consciousness proposal, making beingness much affordable and improving entree to wellness care," Burch said at a quality league connected Wednesday. 

Bill would destruct fiscal burden, advocator says

The Canadian Cancer Society is among those supporting the NDP bill, said Hillary Buchan-Terrell, the organization's manager of advocacy for Ontario. 

Despite the cosmopolitan health-care strategy successful Canada, crab patients consciousness they are facing an unfair load of other costs erstwhile they prosecute treatment, she said. 

"People consciousness similar they person to rob from their aboriginal to wage for their present," she said. 

While crab patients often look predominant infirmary visits, Buchan-Terrell said parking fees tin adhd up for anyone who needs to spell to the infirmary regularly.

Grgic said the projected measure "would person made a large woody of difference" to her father. 

Her parent passed distant successful November 2016, aft her begetter sold his assets to concern her treatment. He present lives with Grgic's household — an illustration of the "ripple effect" of crab costs, she said. 

"He sold his home," Grgic said. "To spot him not beryllium capable to question arsenic freely arsenic helium would person liked to, it's heartbreaking." 

Grgic, who was diagnosed with crab herself successful November 2022, said she spent astir $400 a period connected infirmary parking passes for astatine slightest a twelvemonth arsenic she underwent treatment. 

She said she and her hubby opened lines of recognition and went into recognition paper indebtedness to concern expenses related to her care. 

"This question would destruct that fiscal load to truthful galore families [and] their caregivers," she said. 

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B.C. reinstated paid parking astatine hospitals successful 2022  

Hospitals successful Ontario began charging for parking successful the 1980s aft a propulsion from the provincial authorities astatine the clip "to get hospitals to beryllium tally much similar businesses," said Dr. Michael Rachlis, a nationalist wellness doc and prof astatine the University of Toronto's Dalla Lana School of Public Health. 

Parking could outgo arsenic overmuch as $1,000 a period successful immoderate hospitals until 2016, erstwhile the Ontario government, nether Kathleen Wynne, enactment restrictions connected the fees, helium said. Now, helium said parking fees astatine hospitals typically max retired astatine astir $350 a month. 

Health Minister Sylvia Jones appeared to notation to this existing argumentation astatine a quality league connected Wednesday, saying limits are already successful spot connected parking fees. 

"I recognize that determination are challenges erstwhile radical privation and request to sojourn our hospitals, but determination is besides the different broadside wherever we privation to put successful people, successful equipment, successful capital, and that's what we've been doing with our investments," she said. 

If hospitals stopped charging for parking, they could suffer astir betwixt $50 to $100 cardinal successful backing successful Ontario, Rachlis said. Hospitals usage gross from parking for day-to-day budgetary operations, helium said. 

If they suffer that wealth and it's not replaced, "that means that patients are going to get worse care," helium said. 

"The provincial authorities should not get immoderate recognition for eliminating infirmary parking fees unless they supply that backfill backing to the hospitals," Rachlis said. 

Earlier this month, Nova Scotia eliminated parking fees for each health-care facilities. Hospital foundations and different organizations that beryllium connected fees for gross volition person immoderate shortfall covered by the provincial government, according to a quality merchandise from April. 

Nova Scotia volition walk an estimated $19 cardinal annually connected the change, the merchandise said. A summons validation strategy volition beryllium implemented astatine immoderate sites to guarantee escaped parking is lone utilized by patients, visitors and staff. 

If Ontario does destruct infirmary parking fees, Rachlis said the authorities besides needs to instrumentality the pb connected however escaped parking would beryllium implemented and enforced. 

British Columbia reinstated paid parking astatine infirmary facilities successful March 2022 aft spending $20 cardinal waiving fees for conscionable implicit 2 years. Non-hospital users were taking up parking spots, making it hard for patients, unit and visitors to park, according to a merchandise astatine the time.

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Poorest in Ontario excluded, argumentation adept says

While requiring escaped parking successful hospitals would payment car owners, Rachlis said determination would beryllium nary payment to radical who request fiscal enactment the most. 

"The poorest radical successful this province, successful this country, bash not person centrifugal vehicles," helium said. 

"Every clip we subsidize radical with cars and we don't enactment the wealth into nationalist transportation, we are making those radical worse off."

Rachlis said helium thinks the authorities should walk much wealth connected nationalist transit whenever it implements a argumentation that benefits conveyance owners. 

"There are a batch of radical who won't payment astatine each from this [bill] if they don't person a car and they're taking their Ubers to sojourn idiosyncratic and enactment them successful the hospital," Rachlis said. 

"And there's different radical who are going to person to wage much wealth successful taxes to enactment the hospitals that we have, due to the fact that they'll beryllium missing the parking fees."