TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taichung Veterans General Hospital on Wednesday launched a NT$100 (US$3.10) valet parking service to help visitors avoid long waits for limited parking spaces.
The hospital is the only public medical center in central Taiwan and handles more than 10,000 outpatient visits each day. It only has about 800 parking spaces, so many patients say finding a parking spot is harder than registering for an appointment, per Liberty Times.
To address the problem, the hospital has rolled out a valet parking service that allows drivers to drop off their vehicles at designated entrances and proceed directly to medical appointments. Staff then drive and park the vehicles at an off-site lot in the North District.
The service is available from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the first medical building and outpatient building entrances. A one-way valet fee of NT$100 is charged, while standard parking fees are billed separately, CNA reported.
Hospital officials said the system is designed to reduce stress and save time for patients, particularly the elderly and those with mobility issues. Vehicles are photographed and tracked during the process and drivers receive a valet card to retrieve their cars later, per Economic Daily News.
When picking up their vehicles, users return to the valet counter, collect their keys and take a shuttle bus to the off-site parking lot. The hospital said shuttle buses run every five to 10 minutes, with a travel time of about two minutes.
The hospital noted that construction of a third medical building has reduced on-site parking capacity by about 200 spaces. A new underground parking facility with about 730 spaces is expected to open next year to help ease congestion, per UDN.
