Parking.
Parking at the hospital is interesting at best.
It’s difficult on a good day -
when you are in a small to middle sized car
but when you are in a bus
it’s never a good day to find a parking spot at the hospital.
There are good nights, say at around 1am.
Then you can get a spot close to the hospital doors
but if you need to present,
in an emergency
in the middle of the day,
say, on a Wednesday, for example (but every day would be similar)
with a vomiting, feverish child
then finding a parking spot for a big white bus
is impossible.
Impossible and fine worthy, apparently.
Let’s just imagine the car park system at the hospital for a minute.
It consists of two multi-level areas.
One is at the front end, where you generally need to be for an emergency
and the other is at the opposite end of the hospital,
which makes getting to where you need to be about a ten minute walk on any given day.
The *Siberian car park has a top level – reserved for patients with disability permit (of which we don’t have because Ivy may have trouble walking at times and come to the hospital frequently in a state that makes her unable to walk but at the end of the day, she does not need a wheel chair or a device of any kind because she has me and my legs)
but by 8am that car park is full
and every other level underneath cannot fit a bus.
Walking is not an issue generally, if you are lucky enough to secure a space
but add in a vomiting child to the mix
and it’s not ideal.
Which brings me to the other car park.
Let me preface this situation with a story about a mother in a big white bus
who, after circling the car park one morning for over an hour,
finally found a small non- disability spot, that, with a little three pointing, she would be able to wedge her long vehicle into
but before she could angle the bus
a small angry woman, in a smaller, sleeker car bypassed around it and took the space.
I kid you not.
It happens frequently in the hospital car park.
People are busy.
They have appointments
and of course,
when you are feeling poorly, you don’t need to consider anyone else
because you are sick and therefore the most important person in your world.
Yes.
Everyone who has a need to be at the hospital will attempt to park in this parking station -
even in the middle of the day, on a Wednesday
when you can clearly see from the road that there is not a space to be had.
Cars circle the two levels,
stalking people like it is three days before Christmas and nobody has started shopping.
If you are driving a bus, the second level isn’t an option
so you have a choice of sitting on level one, waiting if you have the time
or circling out through the exit, around the outside of the hospital
and back to the entrance to try again.
There is a courtesy service -
where you park at the football stadium and hope the bus is coming soon
but again,
in an emergency it’s not ideal
which brings me to why I was parked on the road, along side the hospital
and where I was given a nasty yellow notice slip -
there is nowhere to park a big white bus, with a small vomiting child inside
in the middle of the day
on a Wednesday (or any day)
and I parked there in desperation.
I will pay my fine but I will pay it under duress
because I think that they should have adequate parking for buses
and they don’t.
They don’t have adequate parking, for a very public, highly populated area, period.
Parking is impossible in the delegated parking stations
and illegal everywhere else
and that’s really hard to deal with when you need to frequent the hospital
often in an emergency.
* Siberian = as far away as you can imagine.
It’s awful the way they expect one to fend for oneself. Remember when there wren’t even curb cuts ?~!
I’m sorry you have to pay the fine. I’m really sad that Ivy needed the ER again. Please hug her gently for me.
Lynda Loves a Baby and altho Ivy is not a baby anymore
she is ill and therefore accorded special loving.
I hear u! I live near RPA and it has no free parking at all, not even on the street. And for a large hospital there is no multi level car park…just a dodgy makeshift area which is shared by punters and staff. People who are sick normally arrive by car rather than bus so u would think that they would sort this out. You should be allowed disabled parking when you have a critically ill child – it’s ludicrous. I would send in a letter of explanation and only pay the fine if they don’t take pity on you. I think they will
I understand load and clear, though my van isnt as big as your bus, often the only places left to park in that particular hospital is next to the pillars which
makes these spots particularly tight. I attend this hospital regularly too and find it a headache! Am I supposed to make a 45 minute trip in which I would
would bypass the hospital, to drive to the football stadium, then wait fpr a bus in which I will hopefully get a seat, then go back to the hospital where I
would be VERY late for my daughters appointments! its stupid. Not to mention the big new buildind at the back of the hospital with the very new big car
park FOR STAFF! ITS A SHAMOZZLE!!
Alison
Parking at JHH has always been terrrible, and they haven;t really done anything to add to it since they keep bringing more and more services to the site. I know when I visit I tend to park out on the main road, I remember risking life and limb as a student trying to cross the road each day when there was the roundabout there still.
I wouldn’t pay the fine just yet until you lodge an appeal by email or in writing, explaining your reasons for your park in that space. I think under the circumstances the powers that be will waive the fine. If your appeal is rejected, then consider paying the fine. Lodge an appeal, it could be worth it and you won’t know otherwise.
As a visitor to that hospital, I have to agree the daytime carparks are totally chaotic. If one is prepared to just sit and wait, eventually, after doing the circuit a number of times a space becomes available and the race is on to be the first in. If one is a visitor, and one who can exercise extreme patience at that, this situation is barely bearable but in an emergency situation with an ill child on board a bus and only limited parking available for a vehicle that size, this is so obviously not a viable option.
Perhaps a query to the RTA regarding the possibility of a disability sticker for your situation could be a solution. Just saying it could be worth a try. Other than that, maybe try the staff carpark.
Heaven knows you’re there almost as often as the staff! xoxo
It is true – Mother knows best. The points she made were the ones I was going to question. In the US the PERCEPTION of a disability is enough to qualify under the “Americans with Disabilities act”. With Ivy’s chronic lifetime illnesses she would qualify (I believe) in the US for a disability plate or placard as long as she is in the vehicle, which here has the added benefit of not having to pay for metered parking. At emergency rooms, there is a number of additional handicapped spots for that venue only.
To echo Barbara above, in the US you would have a handicapped placard to hang from the rear view mirror any time you needed to park, as long as you were transporting Ivy. There would also be a large number of dedicated disability parking spots, some of which are specifically designed to accomodate wheelchair vans. Not to mention that many hospitals have a valet service for parking, for A&E if for nothing else.
It was bad enough with my VW van and I’ve never been able to imagine how you do it with your bus. I could have written twice the length of your blog on their pie-in-the-sky assumption that people take public transport there. It is absurd.
But nevermind–not at our favourite place in Newcastle
I think you should appeal the fine.
What is it about parking at hospitals? It always seems to be hard and stressful, even in a ‘normal’ sized car. A few years ago, my friend had to leave her 8 year old son with a security guard at the front entrance of Westmead Children’s, with a sick bag, while she circled the streets to find a park (he was having chemo and he was not able to walk far). People get out of fines for less legitimite reasons than you. I think the appeal process begins by writing a letter to the local council that issued the fine, perhaps including the emergency admissions letter as evidence. Yes, it’s one more thing to add to the mountain of things to do, but if they do not let you off there is something seriously wrong. It is just an impossible situation to be in, what else could you have done? I have found myself in that situation at times as (unfortunately) I am a regular visitor at Westmead Children’s (in a Forester, that is hard enough at times).
The perennial problem… where to park? There is a new children’s hospital being built in Perth… right near one of the major adult hospitals in Perth where parking is at a premium already. In dread to think what things will be like once the new hospital is built. Even with additional parking facilities I forsee problems. I don’t often comment because I read in Reader, but wanted to say how much I admire you. In know a little of the difficulties of managing a sick child along with home and family. We’re into our ninth week of hospital stay… I love your writing style… so easy to read and it speaks to my heart. I’m sorry for your family with the loss of your husband’s mother. Goodbyes are so hard. God bless.
Just wanted to comment on your newest post, but since the comments are closed I’m writing here. What a beautiful, beautiful piece. It brought tears to my eyes, and I don’t cry easily. You are such a gifted writer – and I’m a writing professional, so I’m not just saying this. Hang in there.
i have donr this on numerous occasions but i just let security know on the way in and have never has a fine…….YET ( im sure it will happen one day )
Get a letter from the hospital docs saying that you were required at the hospital for a medical emergency, as you had an extremely sick child, who needed urgent medical care, at the hospital ED and if they still want the fine paid after that, go to the media and shame them. While it costs $9 at my hospital – the best thing is that they open another car park if the main one is closed and before you enter, an electronic sign tells you how many spaces are available so it is not an aimless waste of time.
Grrr, hospital parking does my head in. PMH over here has a tiny car park and the rest is street parking in a very busy city where there are often no spots close by. Middle of the night or weekends (when the footy isn’t on) is no problem, but during business hours it’s horrible, even with a mid sized car. Thankfully the new childrens’ hospital is coming with a multi level car park to at least make it somewhat easier.