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Effective Dec. 31, per exit fee will increase from $6 to $7.50; Tracy’s Dream brass concerned
Published Dec 03, 2025 • Last updated 6 hours ago • 3 minute read
This sign at one of Sault Area Hospital’s parking gates, as seen Thursday afternoon, will have to be mended when, effective Dec. 31, the per exit fee increases from $6 to $7.50 for patients, visitors and the public. JEFFREY OUGLER/THE SAULT STARArticle content
Sault Area Hospital is tagging fiscal tough times for ushering in its first parking rate hike in a decade.
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Effective Dec. 31, the per exit fee will increase from $6 to $7.50 for patients, visitors and the public. On Jan. 1, parking rates will also increase for staff and physicians.
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SAH said Wednesday Ontario hospitals rely on parking fees as a revenue source to supplement government funding, and parking revenues are used both to offset maintenance costs and to generate revenue, supporting “vital” community patient care programs.
As SAH anticipates an overall deficit for a second consecutive year, with a “significant” shortfall projected for fiscal 2025/26, all “efficiency measures and revenue-generating opportunities” are being “actively” evaluated.
Dennis Dinelle said he was “taken back pretty good” when SAH called him this week with the news.
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“It’s not a good news story for us at all,” said Dinelle, whose late wife, Tracy, adopted an activist role following her 2012 cancer diagnosis, being instrumental in the launch of Tracy’s Dream, which assists cancer patients who need help shouldering Sault Area Hospital parking fees.
Tracy Dinelle, centre, adopted an activist role following her 2012 cancer diagnosis, being instrumental in the launch of Tracy’s Dream. She received great support from her husband, Dennis, and mother, Rena Ross, in her cancer fight. JEFFREY OUGLER/THE SAULT STAR/POSTMEDIA NETWORK
The retired OLG Casino Sault Ste Marie manager and others have remained faithful to the cause, undertaking administrative duties and carrying on with fundraising.
The charity has received some 800 calls so far this year for assistance, marking an ever-increasing demand.
“We’ll have to step up fundraising a little bit to try to get through this,” Dinelle told The Sault Star.
“I’m on pension now. I know what it’s like.”
A bottle drive is slated for early in the new year.
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It’s putting a lot on this charity that so many in the community utilize,” Dinelle added.
The last parking increase was 10 years ago, in January 2016, and the per-exit rate has since remained at $6. The maximum permissible increase under provincial government legislation is $13 per exit.
“However, SAH is increasing our rate only to keep pace with inflation,” the hospital said.
A decade ago, Sault Area Hospital branded a funding freeze as a chief factor in its decision then to hike visitor parking rates. At that point, SAH parking rates had remained unchanged since 2009.
Ron Gagnon, Sault Area Hospital’s president and CEO at the time of the last increase, said then that hospital funding had changed “dramatically,” pointing to no increase to base funding over the previous four years.
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“I would say we’re going into the fifth year of frozen hospital budgets, so hospitals need to be looking at all aspects of generating revenue, reducing costs in order to provide excellent patient care,” Gagnon told The Sault Star in a December 2015 interview following a board of directors open meeting.
“We don’t look at parking as some cash cow. We look at it as a way to sustain quality health care in Sault Ste. Marie.”
SAH parking lots have an entry-to-exit grace time of 20 minutes and a payment-to-exit grace time of 30 minutes.
Discounted parking passes providing several parking options will continue to be offered, and updated pricing is available on the hospital’s website.
Parking here still appears to be less expensive than that of SAH’s nearest counterpart, at least for flat rates.
Parking at Health Sciences North (HSN) in Sudbury has a daily flat rate of $8 per exit for general lots, with options for one-day ($11.50), five-day ($28.00) and 10-day ($50) passes. The pay and display lot at the Northeast Cancer Centre has a daily maximum of $10. Parking meters are also available at a rate of $2 per hour, as they are at SAH.
On X: @JeffreyOugler
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