It appears as if the Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux (CISSSO) is making good on its promise to ticket staff members who haven’t paid for parking.
Several people on the “Pontiac Voice” Facebook group have drawn attention to the fact that parking enforcement officers have been paying visits to healthcare facilities in the Pontiac.
For the last couple of weeks, parking enforcement officers have been handing out tickets to those parked in staff parking spots at the CAP, CLSCs and the Shawville Hospital.
At some of these facilities, the staff parking spots are clearly marked. At other locations, the spots aren’t clearly delineated.
This means that some people who use these facilities may park in a staff parking spot by mistake. Some of these people – who aren’t CISSSO employees – have been receiving warning tickets on their windshields.
One person who posted in the Facebook group said that a parking enforcement officer told her that they would be making the rounds on a weekly basis and that once a person gets three warnings, their car will be towed.
Imagine visiting a sick relative or seeking care at a healthcare facility – perhaps for a mobility-limiting health issue – and coming out to discover that your car is gone.
Who do these people call? How do they get home?
The transportation options in the Pontiac are limited. How are those who have mobility issues supposed to physically get to their car to get it out of an impound lot?
CISSSO appears to think it’s a good idea to hit people with a parking ticket – or worse, an impound fee – when these folks are at their most vulnerable.
Not to mention, why is CISSSO even charging for parking?
The reason most municipalities or organizations charge for parking is because parking spaces are a limited commodity. Charging money for parking means more spots will be available because some people won’t pay.
But in case CISSSO hasn’t noticed, there’s plenty of room for parking at these facilities.
Not to mention many healthcare workers have decided to park on nearby streets to avoid paying parking fees.
Jobs are in limited supply in the Pontiac. When someone can get a job that pays a living wage, it can make a huge difference in his or her life.
Along comes CISSSO who basically demands a tax from its employees. If staff don’t want to pay the fee, they risk paying a much steeper price when their car is towed.
CISSSO knows this is bad optics because the organization introduced a plan last year to charge anyone in CISSSO-owned parking lots a fee.
When residents banded together in vocal disapproval, CISSSO backed down.
Parking lots need maintenance, which costs money. Nobody wants to see money come out of patient care to re-pave a parking lot.
But charging employees isn’t going to cover a fraction of the cost to maintain parking lots, so why even bother?
Since parking spaces are plentiful in the Pontiac, it’s clear CISSSO isn’t charging employees to make sure there are enough spots.
This is an organization that was created because it was going to run the region’s healthcare facilities in a more efficient manner.
That same organization projected a deficit of around $6 million. It also spent $17,000 to give each employee three pieces of artisanal chocolate as a thank-you for all their hard work.
This looks like nothing more than a cash grab by an organization that has proven adept at wasting money and time.
Maybe if CISSSO could actually find the efficiencies it was created to find, it wouldn’t have to gouge its own employees to help it balance the budget.
Chris Lowrey
