Some users of the new MUHC Glen site are complaining about parking fees, saying they are too high for those who require regular care.
A motion will be presented at the Cote des Neiges/Notre Dame de Grace borough council meeting on May 4 calling on the Quebec government to look into parking fees at the new hospital.
It costs $25 to park in the eight-storey "underground" parking garage for 90 minutes or longer.
In his motion, Councillor Lionel Perez calls the fees abusive to patients and their family members.
Parking fees at the Montreal General Hospital will soon be increasing to $25/day from $21. The Jewish General Hospital charges $20. Toronto General Hospital also charges $25/day.
Regular patient Paul Thibault said he is concerned about the increase in costs he is now facing.
Thibault, who has been battling cancer for five years, said that at the old Royal Vic he could often find street parking, and perhaps pay $10 for 90 minutes.
“It will be my 50th treatment on the 14th of June,” he said, explaining that he visits the hospital three times a month for chemotherapy.
Now he is facing no option except paying $25 for a visit of the same duration since there is very little on-street parking in the area surrounding the Glen Site.
"The people who go to these hospitals go to help their family. Other people go, unfortunately in my case for the rest of my life, every two weeks. I have no option," said Thibault.
"It's expensive and it's not fair. Other people cannot even afford, unfortunately, to do that and when your immune system is down or you're a dialysis patient you have no option. You're committed. You're a prisoner of the system."
Officials at the MUHC said they had no real choice when it came to building the parking garage. They say the provincial government refused to allow them to have an open lot, or a garage with a lower fee, and said the lot must be self-financing.
“There's no money available from the government for maintaining the parking lot and for constructing the parking lot either, so in order to self-finance, we have to put the rates at a certain level that allows us to pay off the money we owe,” said MUHC spokesperson Ian Popple.
It's estimated the parking fees at the new hospital will generate $14-20 million a year in revenue.
The parking garage was scrutinized a year ago when the Charbonneau Commission into corruption in the construction industry was told that SNC-Lavalin was given an exemption in its bid to build an eight-storey-tall parking garage that would be called "underground" by saying it was below Decarie Blvd, instead of being below the closest street, St Jacques.
