Changes being made at Sault Area hospital
Sault Area Hospital will be making some major upgrades to its parking system.
Starting on June 21, the system will be overhauled to allow visitors to pay their parking fee with credit or debit cards as well as provide additional parking pass options.
Devon Clark, the hospital’s director of facilities, said the new parking system will mirror those seen in major airports.
"It will be a ticket-based system where they will drive up, press a button, and get a ticket," Clark said. "They bring that into the hospital where they can pay at any of the major entrances."
The exit fee of $6.00 will remain unchanged for the time being. Visitors will also have the option to purchase a 24-hour pass for $10.00, which will allow unlimited exits within that timeframe.
Clark said the upgrades have been a long time coming.
"People were very frustrated with the token-based or cash-based system," Clark said. "It was installed when the hospital was new. We’ve been in the hospital now, even though we still call it the new hospital, for over 10 years now, and it was time to replace that system."
In addition to the parking upgrades, Sault Area Hospital is stepping up enforcement of smoking bylaws. This week, security staff received the authority to issue tickets of up $250 to anyone found smoking on hospital property.
"Being on 50 acres and being so set back from public areas, we’ve really struggled with trying to control the smoking issue that we had," Clark said and points out that there are no designated smoking areas on hospital property in accordance with provincial smoking laws.
He said that smokers must move to a public space to smoke and that smoking is not permitted on the section of the Hub Trail that runs behind the hospital.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.