Nurses asking for City of Regina’s help with parking woes

Where there used to be about 150 parking spaces in the southwest part of the parking lot in front of the Regina General Hospital, there are now fences, construction equipment and several large holes.

The long-awaited parkade is being built to help deal with the chronic parking problems at the hospital that have often spilled over into the surrounding neighbourhoods. But while that parkade is being built, the problems have got worse.

During the construction, there are 150 employees who used to have parking spaces who now have to find somewhere else to put their vehicles during their shifts.

Many park out in the surrounding neighbourhood now, most of which is two-hour parking, which registered nurse Taylor Wall said doesn’t work so well.

“We can’t park in two-hour parking because there’s no saying that we’re going to be able to get out in two hours to move our car,” said Wall.

“We can’t leave in the middle of CPR or something like that. Our patients might need us. We’re chronically shortstaffed … so if we’re short and we can’t move our car, then we’re just getting tickets on tickets on tickets.”

Wall herself has received three tickets totalling $150 since construction started, and she said she has co-workers who have been fined thousands of dollars through parking tickets.

There is parking with no time limits further away from the hospital, but Wall said it’s not a great neighbourhood and, at this time of year, they’re both arriving and leaving in the dark.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority expanded its park-and-ride program when the construction started to accommodate more people, but Wall said it’s not a viable option for parents.

“What happens if your kid is sick and has to be picked up from daycare? You don’t have your vehicle here, so you have to, what? Get a taxi to take you from the hospital to your car, which is at the Conexus Arts Centre, and then your sick child’s still waiting to be picked up from daycare,” she explained.

Wall is asking the City of Regina to step up and help out. She wants the city to give health-care workers parking passes so they can park in the two-hour zones without having to leave the hospital multiple times each shift to move their cars.

She said she and her co-workers are taking care of people, their kids and their parents, and they shouldn’t have to be worried about their vehicles and tickets at the same time.

The request isn’t unprecedented. The city helped out health-care workers during the early days of the pandemic, forgiving many parking tickets in that area after concerns were raised by workers.

Wall said she and other workers are just looking for the help while the parkade is being built.

“Once the parkade’s done being built, those staff that had been parking in the staff parking will then be able to park in the parkade, plus more, so it should eliminate some of the problems,” said Wall.

Construction is expected to be finished on the parkade in November 2024.

In a statement, the city didn’t indicate it would make the change, saying it’s responsible for enforcing parking equally around the city.

“In neighbourhoods like the General Hospital area, the City must balance the needs of the community with those visiting the hospital. On-street parking around the hospital is intended to meet the needs of visitors and others who require short-term parking,” wrote the city.

It said employee parking situations are up to employers and suggested the workers bring it up with the Saskatchewan Health Authority.