The Editor,
I have the unfortunate experience of having a loved one in a local hospital for the past month. That is stressful on its own.
Parking at the hospital compounds that stress. It is all computerized. Put the stall number into the machine, pay by credit card only, two hours for $7.75. Then it takes about 10 minutes to make your way through the maze of hospital corridors to the room. Goodbye at the end of the visit can be emotional and sometimes the hug lingers longer than anticipated. Then make your way back through the maze to your vehicle.
The whole time takes two hours and nine minutes — and there it is, a ticket on the windshield for $48! All for being nine minutes late. Talk about a cash grab at a time when your world has been turned upside down.
The Impark agent is sitting with a handheld computer and as soon your paid time is up, off they go to put a ticket on your car, no leeway allowed. There is no ability to pay for the extra nine minutes, no means of paying less than an hour.
Whatever happened to having a parking lot attendant you pay when you exit, paying for the time you have been there? That would create a job for someone and allow a person to have that emotional goodbye or an unexpected word with the care providers, or if the doctor decides to come around and have a word with the family, or your loved one decides they need assistance getting to the bathroom, whatever the cause of the minor delay.
No one is there to purposefully overstay their paid time. It is criminal to ticket a person at a hospital for a mere few minutes. Shame on Impark and shame on health authorities for being so greedy and uncaring.
Sherry Furukawa, Coquitlam
