Ottawa Hospital parking rates set to increase starting Tuesday

Parking rates at The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) will increase as of Tuesday for patients, visitors and staff.

A memo to TOH staff, obtained by CTV News Ottawa, outlines that patient and visitor parking rates will rise by 3.9 per cent, while staff rates will increase by three per cent.

The memo says the increase is intended to support capital projects and fund critical upgrades at the Civic, General, and Riverside campuses.

Key updates include:

• Five-year repair and maintenance plan to extend the operational life span of both the Civic Campus P1 garage and the General Campus main garage.

• A new off-site parking location to help reduce the staff parking wait list at the General Campus.

• Ongoing negotiations with the City of Ottawa to build a new 125-stall surface parking lot at the Riverside Campus.

Currently, visitor parking costs range from $4.25 for 30 minutes to a daily maximum of $15.

In a statement, TOH says the increases are in line with provincial guidelines.

"As of October 1, patient, visitor and staff parking rates will be increasing by 3.9 per cent. Our parking rates are within the legislated directions and comparable to other hospitals regionally," a TOH spokesperson said.

"Parking rate increases are a necessary step to support key capital projects and fund much-needed updates and improvements to the parking facilities at all three campuses. Parking revenues also go towards buying medical equipment and building new patient care environments."