Surrey Memorial parking fee scrapping still up in the air
Posted November 25, 2018 4:36 pm.
Last Updated November 25, 2018 4:40 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
SURREY (NEWS 1130) — In Surrey, talks between city staff and Fraser Health continue on whether or not paid parking should be scrapped at Surrey Memorial Hospital.
Though the city is offering free two hour parking for its spots surrounding the hospital, more than 2,000 spaces owned by the health authority remain up in the air. City staff have reached out to Fraser Health trying to convince the health authority to offer free two hour parking to patients.
In a statement to NEWS 1130, the health authority says it “welcomes” the opportunity to work with Surrey City Hall to address the parking fee situation.
“We also appreciate that some people may struggle to pay for parking, especially when they are dealing with long term illnesses,” reads the emailed statement. “For this reason, we have a hardship process to waive fees where it poses a genuine challenge to patients and families.”
Fraser Health adds it offers parking vouchers and waivers for patients who make frequent trips to hospitals and clinics and that generated revenue covers costs to provide safe parking and reinvestments into health care programs and services.
Scrapping the parkade spots would mean a big loss for Fraser Health, however. The Health Authority makes nearly a third of its annual parking revenue from paid parking at Surrey Memorial alone.
“As one of our main regional centres, it has the most parking stalls available through three parkades and a number of surface lots,” Fraser Health says.
“In addition, the parking revenue totals also include revenue from peripheral sites that make up the broader campus, such as the Shirley Dean Pavilion, Charles Barham Pavilion, and Laurel Place.”
No word yet on when a decision will be handed down.