Dear Editor,

I had occasion to visit a friend at the Kingston Public Hospital recently. I left with feelings of disgust, as it seemed to me that more could be done to alleviate the daily struggles of visitors.

Firstly, why after all these years is there no decent car park facility? Instead, one is forced to park at an empty, makeshift, “dirt” lot opposite the hospital. And, of course, one must pay the “operators” of the makeshift parking area a fee. In fact, a fee is required even if one parks on the road.

Secondly, there is the arduous process involved in visiting a patient. In order to go on to the ward, one has to join two lines. The first line is at ‘Customer Service’ where one receives a bit of paper with the name/number of the ward written thereon. One must get this bit of paper even if one knows the ward details.

After getting that paper, one joins another line. In this line the security guard checks his/her list to ensure that there is such a patient in residence and that no one else is currently with the patient since only one visitor is allowed at a time. No possibility of a dying patient saying goodbye to more than one family member at a time!

Then there is a third checkpoint at which bags are inspected by another security guard. One can spend 15 minutes waiting in the line, which represents a substantial loss in the one hour visiting period, 11-12 noon. There is another visiting period in the evening, 4:30-6:00 pm.

Is there not a more efficient method to deal with crowd control? If it is indeed determined that these lines are necessary, then maybe thought should be given to extending the morning visiting hours and allow for more than one person at a time to visit individual patients.

Shirley Richards

sprichards82@yahoo.com