THE death of a family member is a harrowing experience, but for the family of Orange sporting personality Carl Sharpe, their distress at his passing at Orange hospital last month was compounded when family members desperate to find a car park were not able to be at his bedside when he died.
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Mr Sharpe’s daughter Lyn Watson said the chronic lack of parking at Orange hospital mid-morning on March 1 when her father passed away had left a lasting impact on the family.
“I was with mum and my brother at dad’s bedside when he began to deteriorate and I contacted my sister and my husband to tell them to come straight away,” Mrs Watson said.
“When they didn’t arrive I rang them both again and neither said they could find a park.”
Mrs Watson said the closest park her sister and brother-in-law could find was close to the traffic lights near Gosling Creek Aged Care, with her own husband parking on the western side of Forest Road.
“They ran all the way in but it was too late - he had passed away a couple of minutes before,” Mrs Watson said.
She said as regular visitors to the hospital before her father’s death, family members often experienced difficulty finding parking places.
“We just don’t want this to happen to another family as it was so upsetting,” Mrs Watson said.
“The parking situation was always difficult as we have been out at the hospital on numerous occasions, and we would often have to park up behind the Country Club.”
She said her family members were “law-abiding people” and did not want to park illegally on the morning her father died.
Mrs Watson said the care given to her father at Orange hospital was of the highest standard.
“We have this fantastic facility with not nearly enough parking - it’s basic maths, there isn’t enough when you look at the number of staff, outpatients and visitors,” Mrs Watson said.
Councillor Glen Taylor is pushing for a crisis meeting between NSW Health and Orange City Council over parking shortages at the hospital.
Orange Health Service told the CWD the hospital site had 605 parking places as well as 18 disability spaces, two spaces for parents with prams and six emergency department drop-off spaces.
Member for Orange Andrew Gee insists no decision on more parking can be made until the internal road upgrades at Bloomfield are completed.
janice.harris@fairfaxmedia.com.au