Parking woes in the spotlight after health-care worker assaulted

After a woman who works at Royal University Hospital was assaulted while walking to work from her vehicle, a major union is calling for better and safer parking options for health-care workers.

According to police, the assault happened on Dec. 6 at the intersection of Munroe Avenue and Colony Street in Saskatoon. The 32-year-old employee was walking to the hospital just before 7 a.m. when a man she didn’t know approached her.

The man threatened her with what looked like a handgun, and struck her with the weapon before fleeing. He was wearing a white hoodie and grey pants, and police described him as an Indigenous man with a thin build, standing five-foot-eight.

The woman was treated at the scene for injuries that were not life-threatening, and the incident remains under police investigation.

The assault highlighted an issue that’s been frustrating health-care workers in Saskatoon for years: staff parking.

Barbara Cape, president of the Service Employees International Union West (SEIU-West), said there’s currently a decades-long waiting list for a parking spot at Royal University Hospital.

“I’ve got a 25-year employee who still hasn’t gotten parking, and she’s been on the wait list for 20 years,” Cape said.

The issue is more widespread than just that hospital, Cape added. St. Paul’s Hospital staff members use on-street parking, and according to Cape employees have to leave work to move their vehicles every two hours or they risk a ticket. Employees at City Hospital often walk up to 30 minutes to get to work from where they leave their vehicles, she said.

At Luther Special Care Home, she said employees pay a yearly fee for scramble parking.

“If they don’t scramble fast enough and get to work and get a parking spot, they’re out of luck,” Cape said.

“We’re the major trauma centre for northern and central Saskatchewan, and we don’t even have a place for the staff to park.”

Cape said details like staff parking should be critical to the building process for new health-care facilities.

While Cape doesn’t personally know the woman who was assaulted – or even if she is an SEIU-West member – she said the incident still highlights the issues health-care workers face.

“There’s no place for us to be putting up with assaults in any sort of situation,” she said. “That’s ridiculous.”

The parking shortage also creates an inconvenience for residents who live close to hospitals and long-term care facilities, as health-care staff often take up a good portion of the available on-street parking.

Cape said she wants to see safe walk and ride services for workers enhanced, including shuttles between hospitals and parking areas.

She also thinks more parking lots need to be constructed and allocated to health-care staff, suggesting the parking lot at nearby Merlis Belsher Place could be used as an option for hospital workers.

“For the love of God, health-care workers have been tough. They have gone through Hell and back with this pandemic. Surely we can come up with a solution on this one small issue that’s going to make their lives just a bit easier,” the union president said.

If Regina can build a parkade for its hospital, Cape said that surely something similar could be done to provide better options for health-care workers in Saskatoon, before they reach the age of retirement while still on the waiting list.