Parking, Promises, and Putting Patients First

This story is a little embarrassing, but here goes.

Not long ago, I finished my workday, walked to the Berman Garage and realized something fairly important.

My car wasn’t there.

Back in April, I wrote about parking at GBMC and confessed that I am a “prudent parker.” I’m the person who takes the first reasonable spot and starts walking, unlike the “parking lot hunters” among us who are willing to circle a little longer in search of the perfect space.

Well, this prudent parker had forgotten that his parking spot had moved.

Beginning November 1, parking in the Berman Garage will be reserved for patients and employees who work in the Sandra R. Berman Pavilion. That means a change for our executive team as well. We will be parking outside Berman, and I decided to get a head start.

So, I’ve been parking on Farmhouse Hill. The change has been pretty painless. It adds about four minutes to my walk and gives me a little extra exercise at the beginning and end of the day.

The one thing I genuinely miss is seeing our front desk team at the main hospital entrance each morning and evening. They had become part of my daily routine, so I’ll need to find another reason to stop by and visit them.

More importantly, when I wrote about parking in April, I made you a promise.

I said we had heard the frustration around parking and that we would take a thoughtful look at how we use our spaces, traffic flow, repairs and parking assignments across campus. I also said one principle would continue to guide us: our patients come first.

That hasn’t changed.

In fact, GBMC has more parking spaces today than at any point in our history. So, the challenge isn’t simply creating more parking. It’s making sure we are using the parking we have in the right way.

And to me, this is very much part of Care Built Around You.

Care Built Around You doesn’t begin when someone reaches an exam room or hospital bed. It begins with how easily and safely they can get to us.

Think about a patient who isn’t feeling well, someone who has difficulty walking, an expectant mother, an older adult, or a family member bringing a loved one to GBMC for care. Finding a convenient parking space matters. Getting from the car to the place where you receive care matters. Those things are part of the experience we provide.

Our parking system should reflect that reality.

That means some of us who work here will need to adjust. I’m changing my routine. Our executive team is changing theirs. And some employees who have parked in Berman will be changing theirs as well.

As part of this change, we are ending the employee parking lottery for Berman. Employees who previously had a lottery space will transition to parking assignments that consider years of service, consistent with our broader approach to employee parking across campus. The parking FAQ explains how those assignments will work.

I recognize that may sting a little for those who won one of those coveted spots. It may feel a bit like winning the lottery only to discover the prize has an expiration date.

All kidding aside, I understand that everyone’s situation is different and that changing someone’s parking routine can be inconvenient. As we prioritize convenient access for our patients, we also need to make sure our employees have safe and reasonable access to work.

Many of you have also asked about the former Daffodil Garage site.

We are not planning to rebuild the Daffodil Garage. Instead, we want to evaluate the impact of the changes we are making now and better understand what our patients need. We can then determine whether using the Daffodil site as a surface parking lot makes sense.

I believe that is the prudent approach. Before spending significant resources to create additional parking, we should first make sure we are using the parking we already have as effectively as possible.

For me, our parking decisions come down to three things:

Better access for our patients.

Safe and reasonable access for our staff.

Prudent stewardship of GBMC’s financial resources.

Maybe that last one is especially appropriate coming from a self-described prudent parker.

We won’t get every decision perfect on the first try. We will continue to look at the data, listen to feedback and make adjustments where they make sense.

But our direction is clear. We want a parking system that makes it easier for our patients to access their care, provides safe and reasonable access for our people, and uses the resources entrusted to us wisely.

That’s another small but important way we can make Care Built Around You real.

For those who need details about parking assignments, registration, badge access and other logistics related to the November 1 changes, we have put that information together in our updated parking FAQ.

And as for me, I’ll keep making the walk to and from Farmhouse Hill.

Assuming, of course, I remember where I parked.