BC Nurses Union hopes free parking at hospitals will continue past pandemic

PRINCE GEORGE — The temporary suspension of parking enforcement of certain locations around Prince George will be lifted next week as the City continues to move along with Phase Two of BC’s Restart Plan. One thing not changing, however, is the free parking for nurses at UHNBC.

Parking regulations at UHNBC are set by Northern Health and as per a March 30 bulletin, paid parking for the public, staff, and medical staff is all temporarily suspended with no word of it changing with the rest of the city.

“Hours are not always predictable for nurses and the problem began when they had to go out and reset the meter or pay for extended time and that really became the crux of the problem,” explained Christine Sorensen, President of the BC Nurses Union. “They were having to take their time away from patient care for extended hours of work to go out and make sure they weren’t getting a ticket.”

The areas near the hospital, however, will go back to normal regardless if you are an employee or patient. There is hope nurses will be able to keep some sort of convenient or free parking moving forward. Sorensen said, “parking that is close to the facility, that is accessible, that’s safe and convenient for them is certainly important. And certainly, parking that is free or at a very reduced and reasonable rate. But it makes no sense to myself or other nurses that they’re having to pay to go to work.”