Anyone visiting the Brandon Regional Health Centre since late January may have noticed that the cost to park has been on the receiving end of an increase. That increase became the subject of a discussion thread this month as folks shared feedback and questions on the new reality. To help answer questions I got in touch with Prairie Mountain Health recently where a spokesperson confirmed that there was in fact a rate increase on January 21 of this year to:
$2 for the first hour, then $1 for each additional hour to a daily maximum of $12.
From 2004 up until that point the cost was $1 for the first hour and then $0.50 for each additional hour to a daily maximum of $6.
In total it represents an effective doubling of cost. According to the same Prairie Mountain spokesperson, generally speaking funds earned through parking fees are returned to parking infrastructure and improvement projects within Prairie Mountain Health. In this case the rate increase is said to help offset the cost of parking including maintenance costs of the lot. Industry standards for credit card use and accessibility required updates to the outdoor kiosk as well as the addition of an indoor kiosk in the lobby, changes that are now in place.
Beyond that I wanted to get an idea how the old and new Brandon fees compare to hospital pay parking in other nearby centres on the prairies. Rates posted online for hospital parking show:
- Regina at $1 per half hour with a daily rate of $12
- Saskatoon at $3 per hour, $18 per day
- Yorkton at $1 per half hour, $10 per day
- Moose Jaw $1 per half hour, $8 per day
- Lethbridge $1.25 per half hour, $8.50 per day
- Medicine Hat $1 per half hour, $7.50 per day
Based on that you wouldn’t have to try very hard to make the case that its pretty standard to pay at least $2 for your first hour in hospital parking. It’s subsequent hours where Brandon still comes in meaningfully lower than any of the above. On the other side of the coin those making brief visits aren’t able to benefit from per-half-hour charging as in the other facilities above and may in stead in some cases opt for metered parking in the area where available. It’s also worth noting that Brandon’s new daily rate does come in toward the higher end of the places shown.
I left Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre out of the comparison, but for anyone that's curious a page that lists rates for various parkades in its vicinity shows $4/hour (or in some cases $2 per half hour) to be more or less standard with daily maximums at $12 or $17 depending on the parkade.
You can read other folks’ thoughts on the change and share your own in the attached discussion thread.