Father is outraged he “has to pay" to see sick son in hospital
Visitors and helpers for the sick and dying have shown their support to get rid of pricey parking fees at hospitals.
Alex Dexter started online petition 'Change paid parking in New Zealand hospitals' last week after he spent $140 a week on parking to visit his premature first-born son and recovering wife in Auckland's Middlemore hospital.
On a single income, Dexter said his family was lucky they could afford the pricey parking fees.
But he said it was wrong that nurses and family members in the poorer area of south Auckland had to pay to support and care for their ill spouse, parent or child.
"It has been really stressful and really hard times over the past few weeks and we are still going to be here for a little while until he [his son] is ready to take home. I've got to pay to see my son," Dexter said.
"But I'm not really doing it [the petition] for me, I'm doing it for everybody else."
Dexter is urging 100,000 people to sign the petition calling for free parking for hospital staff and at least subsidised parking for visiting patient supporters. More than 8000 people signed the petition by Thursday.
"My sister is a nurse and we have friends who are nurses and to hear that they are paying for parking when they are doing such an amazing job … I don't think it's right.
"I don't think staff should pay and I don't think next of kin should pay when they are having to go through so much already."
New Zealand Nurses Organisation spokeswoman Karen Coltman said nurses working at Auckland District Health Board hospitals had to pay for on site parking. Dexter said workers who pay for inner city parking came with the territory of working in a central business district, but it was different at hospitals.
"I understand there has to be gains and you have to manage it [hospital carparks] otherwise people stay or have entire families parking there and no one else gets a park because there is no incentive for them to move on.
"I just think it is wrong really in general … You have got people who are picking up their kids and they have only got 15 minutes [of free parking]. They have got no money in their wallet and they are there for 17 minutes and they don't even have the $4 to pay."
Wilson Parking chief executive Stephan Wuffli said the company operates two car parks owned by district health boards. One of those carparks is at Auckland City hospital where parking fees cost up to $18 for eight hours. Wuffli referred all questions about its hospital parking business to the district health boards.
The Auckland District Health Board (ADHB) would not say how much it paid Wilson Parking to operate the carpark on its behalf, or how much profit it made from parking. Wilson Parking collected $98 million from New Zealand parking fees from all its parking facilities in 2016. An extra $9m than the previous year. Its profit in New Zealand more than tripled from $2.2m after tax in 2013 to $10m in the year to June 30, 2016.
Dexter was not surprised to hear how much Wilson Parking collected from parking.
"I know that Wilson Parking do a lot of different parking structures in town, but surely they can offer a discount rate to hospitals," he said.
When the petition reaches between 10,000 and 15,000 signatures he will take it to DHBs, local councils and private carpark operating companies, Dexter said.
"The first thing I need to do is get people to help me … I'm probably in over my head but I decided that someone's got to start this and see where this goes."
Written by Madison Reidy. First appeared on Stuff.co.nz