It has recently come to my attention that Sun Country Health Region has allegedly sent out a memo to all employees introducing a new policy to collect parking fees from staff members.
If this is true, the program will take effect on February 7 at facilities owned and leased in the Sun Country Health Region.
The memo states, 鈥淪CHR expects to face a financial challenge in the fiscal year 2016-17.
The collection of parking fees to cover most of the costs of maintaining parking lots and to provide electrical plug-ins during cold weather is one method of gaining additional revenues without reducing level of programs or public services.鈥�
It goes on to say, 鈥淲e regret the need to introduce this policy. However, during a time of budget restraint, SCHR chooses to use revenue from the Ministry of Health for health care services rather than to maintain parking lots. The Region will charge $1 per employee per shift, regardless of the length of shift. The policy is Region-wide.鈥�
鈥淐urrent staff can access a parking authorization form which will be posted under Forms on the R Drive. New staff members will sign at orientation. Please fill out the form and return to your manager as soon as possible to authorize the Region to collect the fee from your paycheque. This will enable you to park on regional property.鈥�
The memo concludes saying, 鈥淟eadership has met with all three unions (CUPE, SUN, HSAS) to explain this policy. If you have questions, please discuss with your manager. We thank you in advance for your cooperation.鈥�
Now for my rant!! Isn鈥檛 parking the responsibility of your employer? Isn鈥檛 that one of the benefits of working for SCHR? Are they going to start collecting fees to visit the sick/injured? Are they going to collect from the physicians? (after all SCHR doesn鈥檛 pay the physicians). Maybe they should set up a booth and collect fees like they do in the big cities. I鈥檓 sure the cost of manning the booth would be less than collecting staff fees, right? No way!
You are forcing your staff to park off the facilities and clog up the residential area. Who is paying for their safety to and from the facilities? We all know what is happening up in Regina to nurses changing shifts. What about the summer months? Are they still going to charge $1 per shift to park in that crummy hospital parking lot that hasn鈥檛 been maintained for 100 years (a bit of exaggeration, but you get the point)? What if you don鈥檛 drive all the time? Who will be monitoring who is and who isn鈥檛 parking? Is a person working a 12 hour shift and plugging their car in, the same as someone working a three or four hour shift? Hmmmmmm!!!!
Where is the money that is being collected going? The memo says that it will go to 鈥渃over most of the costs of maintaining parking lots鈥� and it is 鈥渙ne method of gaining additional revenues without reducing level of programs or public services.鈥�
Are you kidding me? Are you telling me that SCHR won鈥檛 be able to hold a clinic on dementia because their staff hasn鈥檛 paid $1 a shift to park outside at a facility they work at? Wow!!
I don鈥檛 know how we go about supporting our SCHR employees when this sort of policy is introduced, but maybe just sharing this is a start.
Perhaps instead of looking at ways of generating new revenues by penalizing your employees, maybe reducing the cost of bureaucracy within the health region and using that money to help improve front line patient services would better serve the public.
Perhaps SCHR should re-evaluate this poorly designed policy that raises more questions than answers.
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