'Mean spirited': Sask. criticized for making cancer patients pay hospital parking fees
The provincial government is facing harsh criticism after a decision to revoke free parking for cancer patients at some hospitals in Saskatchewan.
Patients receiving chemotherapy used to receive free parking, but now parking fees apply to all.
The NDP opposition believe the wrong decision was made.
“Mr. Speaker, if this isn’t a government that has lost touch with the needs of Saskatchewan people, I don’t know what is,” NDP MLA Jared Clarke said.
Concerns about the new parking fees were first raised by long time Prince Albert city councillor Dennis Ogridnick, who is receiving chemotherapy at Victoria Hospital in the city. He posted on social media calling the decision another financial burden or people.
“It’s another financial burden for some, adding stress to an already stressful situation.”
Saskatchewan’s health minister said the decision was made for consistency.
“Different regions, different facilities, different communities had different policies when it came to parking and this was a decision made by the SHA to align those policies,” Health Minister Everett Hindley said.
The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) says the fees were implemented after, “an internal audit uncovered misuse of this privilege.”
Former cancer patient advocate Donna Pasiechnik said the decision is nothing more than a mean spirited move.
“To nickel and dime cancer patients who are feeling stressed and in pain and financially strapped is mean spirited and petty and surely they is a solution to the parking issues at hospitals,” she said.
The SHA is considering some support for cancer patients who had free parking privileges taken away but that likely won’t apply to any others in the future.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
3 injured after man with knife enters Montreal-area mosque
Three men were injured after trying to subdue a man armed with a knife during afternoon prayers at a Montreal-area mosque Friday afternoon.
Teen arrested in New Brunswick after emergency alert; 5 people in custody
A 15-year-old boy who was the subject of an emergency alert in New Brunswick has been arrested.
Police arrest 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole Porsche and ran over its owner
Police have arrested an 18-year-old woman who allegedly stole a Porsche and then ran over its owner in an incident that was captured on video.
Woman nearly shut out of mother's estate sues brother in B.C. Supreme Court – and wins
Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.
'We're still pushing hard': Search for missing Manitoba boy continues, RCMP find tracks
The search for a missing six-year-old boy in Shamattawa is continuing Friday as RCMP hope recent tips can help lead to a happy conclusion.
Kamala Harris tells Oprah any intruder to her home is 'getting shot'
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday issued a warning to any potential home intruder: 'If somebody breaks in my house, they're getting shot.'
On the trail of the mystery woman whose company licensed exploding pagers
What Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, 49, the Italian-Hungarian CEO and owner of Hungary-based BAC Consulting, says she hasn't done is make the exploding pagers that killed 12 people and wounded more than 2,000 in Lebanon this week.
Top Hezbollah commander among 14 killed in Israeli strike on Beirut
Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander and other senior figures in the Lebanese movement in an airstrike on Beirut on Friday, vowing to press on with a new military campaign until it is able to secure the area around the Lebanese border.
11-year-old boy dies after subway surfing in NYC
An 11-year-old boy died Monday after subway surfing in New York City. He's the fourth person to die from subway surfing in the city this year.