By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
HaysMed ended its parking assistance program at the beginning of July.
The program was suspended for 22 months during the pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, the program was parking about 20 vehicles per day.
In the 18 months after the program was reinstated, the service was only parking about eight vehicles per day.
Shae Veach, HaysMed vice president of operations, said hospital officials did not think they could dedicate the staff for a program with such low usage.
"Staffing is a challenge, and we see it in every business across all of Ellis County and across every business," he said.
The hospital has added five handicapped parking stalls at the front entrance. It also is offering a transport service.
Between 8 a.m. and about 3:30 p.m. or 4:30 p.m., patients can ask volunteers at the front desk for transportation assistance.
Veach also suggested patients confirm with their providers which entrance they need to use. If the patient is concerned about a transport issue from the parking lot, he suggested contacting the hospital in advance.
"Communicate with us," Veach said. "We're going to do what's best for folks at the end of the day. Call us and give us a little bit of a heads-up. You've got to be patient with us so we can someone out there.
"We want to do what's right for patients and the community as well."