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This article was published 27/2/2019 (574 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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Israel Aquino inserts his paid parking tab into the gated terminal at the Brandon Regional Health Centre parking lot on Tuesday. (Chelsea Kemp/The Brandon Sun)

The cost of parking at the Brandon Regional Health Centre has gone up significantly.

The hospital doubled its parking rates at the end of last month to help provide revenue to maintain parking infrastructure, said Steve Geletchuk, manager of security services with Prairie Mountain Health, in an emailed statement.

"We updated parking infrastructure to meet industry standards for fee collection (credit cards) and to provide a second pay station within the main facility that was fully accessible to all parking users," Geletchuk said.

The original infrastructure was purchased second-hand and was at the end of its service life, he said.

A spokesperson was not made available for comment before deadline to provide additional details.

Catheryn Pederson, chair of the Prairie Mountain Health board of directors, declined to comment, stating that all media inquiries must go through the health region’s communications department.

According to the Prairie Mountain Health website, the board’s role is to "ensure PMH’s accountability by monitoring and evaluating its performance and by interacting and communicating with the public."

The parking rates went up Jan. 21.

Before then, patrons paid $1 for the first hour, and 50 cents for each additional hour to a daily maximum of $6. Those rates were in effect since 2004.

Now, people pay $2 for the first hour, then $1 for each additional hour to a daily maximum of $12.

A manager at Shoppers Drug Mart, located just across the street from the hospital, said people frequently park there to avoid the cost of the hospital parking.

"Absolutely they do," said Dana Davis, front store manager at the Victoria Avenue East location.

It’s difficult to say whether more people who are going to the hospital have been parking there since the rates increased, but the parking lot has been busier in general, she said.

As to whether those people get towed — "Generally most people that are at the hospital are only here for a couple of hours so we don’t really make an issue of it," she said.

Discussion on eBrandon, where The Sun discovered news of the parking increase, was mixed.

"It’s ridiculous for patients in the hospital or going to dialysis or cancer care to have to pay," one person wrote. "Visitors I get, but it’s expensive enough having an illness."

Another person said they didn’t have an issue with the increase.

"The convenience of parking close to the hospital costs money," they said. "I personally find the cost to be quite reasonable."

» mverge@brandonsun.com

» Twitter: @Melverge5