SEPARATION: Bill Parish says the lack of parking at Orange Health Service has added to the stress of visiting his sick wife in hospital over the last week. Photo: STEVE GOSCH
AFTER 50 years of marriage not having your wife beside you because she is in hospital is stressful enough, but add a daily battle for a car park at Orange Health Service and one Orange man has had enough.
Being separated from his wife of more than half a century is hard for 81-year-old Bill Parish.
His wife Kathleen, 84, has been receiving treatment at the coronary care unit for the last week and Mr Parish said she would probably by there for another week.
Mr Parish visits his wife three times a day and when he arrives at the busy health campus, he faces the same battle - to find a car park.
Mr Parish probably knows the parking situation better than most visitors and said the situation was a “shambles”.
“It’s like winning the Lotto ... seldom you can drive into a spot,” he said.
“You do get stressed when you get there and can’t find a damn car park ... it’s stressful.”
Mr Parish said many times this week he had been unable to find a car space within hospital grounds and had parked opposite the hospital in the parking area of a nearby cafe.
“When you’ve got to park opposite the hospital and have to clamber through the bush to get there it’s not good,” he said.
The recent addition of bunting to enforce no-parking restrictions on a grassy area alongside the golf course next to the hospital has made things even worse, according to Mr Parish.
“It’s never very good but every time I go there I have trouble finding a spot,” he said.
Mr Parish said he had complained to member for Orange Andrew Gee and was told to put his complaint in writing.
A spokesperson said Mr Gee was aware of the problem and was “quite willing to go to the health minister” if he received a letter of complaint.
A Western NSW Local Health District spokesperson confirmed bunting had been erected to enforce the no-parking area alongside the golf course.
nadine.morton@ruralpress.com