May 28, 1998

  To:Community and Neighbourhood Services Committee

 From:City Clerk

 Subject:Visitors= Parking - Seven Oaks Home for the Aged

  Recommendation:

 The Advisory Committee on Homes for the Aged on May 28, 1998, recommended to the Community and Neighbourhood Services Committee, and Council, the adoption of the attached report (May 21, 1998) from the Commissioner of Community and Neighbourhood Services respecting visitors= parking at Seven Oaks Home for the Aged.

 City Clerk

 R. Dyers/tl

Item No. 2

(Communication dated May 21, 1998, addressed to the

Advisory Committee on Homes for the Aged, from the

General Manager, Homes for the Aged)

 Purpose:

 To obtain the approval of City Council to enter into an agreement with Centenary Health Centre to access reduced rate parking for visitors to Seven Oaks Home for the Aged, in exchange for the right for Centenary Health Centre to install and operate eight (8) parking meters on the actual Seven Oaks site, which is city-owned land.

 Funding Sources, Financial Implications and Impact Statement:

 There is no cost to the City of Toronto in approving this proposal. Families currently accessing paid parking in the Centenary Health Centre's parking lots when visiting at Seven Oaks will realize savings through the negotiated reduced rate. The installation of parking meters at the entrance to the Home may result in some negative reaction from families; however, it is expected that any negativism may be offset by the benefit realized through the reduced rates for longer term parking.

 Recommendations:

 It is recommended that:

 (1)the City of Toronto approve the plan of Centenary Health Centre to offer reduced rate parking in their Shoniker Parking Lot for visitors to Seven Oaks Home for the Aged;

 (2)in exchange for the consideration outlined in Recommendation No. (1), the City of Toronto enter into a licensing arrangement with Centenary Health Centre to install and operate eight (8) parking meters on the city-owned land on which Seven Oaks is situated, at a cost of $0.25 per fifteen (15) minutes;

 (3)the license arrangement include a provision to maintain the parking meter fees at $0.25 per fifteen (15) minutes with no increase for two (2) years;

 (4)the license arrangement be in a form and on terms and conditions satisfactory to the City Solicitor; and

 (5)the appropriate City officials be authorized and directed to take the necessary action to give effect hereto.

 Background:

 Seven Oaks is a 249-bed Home for the Aged, owned and operated by the City of Toronto, which is situated at the corner of Neilson Road and Ellesmere Road, directly across the street from Centenary Health Centre. When Seven Oaks was built in 1989, the city-owned land on which it was constructed was insufficient to allow for the provision a Home-specific visitors parking lot. The only parking available on city-owned land is eight (8) parking spaces at the front entrance to the Home, which are used primarily for pick-up and drop-off of residents; two (2) of these spaces are designated for pick-up and drop-off (between the hours of 7:00-9:00 A.M. and 4:00-6:00 P.M.) of children attending the child care program operated by the Children's Services Division within the Home. These limited parking spaces are provided on an honour system.

 However, when planning for the Home's construction and care and service program to respond to community need, staff consulted with representatives from Centenary Health Centre, in an attempt to find a resolution to the parking issues. Centenary Health Centre owns considerable land immediately west of (i.e., across Neilson Road) and immediately south of the Seven Oaks site. Centenary Health Centre offered the use of their parking lots for visitors to the Home, on a fee-for-service basis, at the same rate as it set for visitors to the hospital. It should be noted that Centenary Health Centre houses a continuing care unit (chronic care) in which individuals reside for an extended period of time, and for that reason the hospital's representatives would not approve a rate for Seven Oaks visitors below what it charged for its own long-term care family members and visitors.

 Over the years since 1989, Seven Oaks and Centenary Health Centre have enjoyed a very positive working relationship, with respect to both access to the parking lot and with respect to a number of other initiatives. For example, Seven Oaks and Centenary Health Centre operate a joint Day Centre for older adults, and residents of Seven Oaks are able to take advantage of a number of medical and paramedical services available on site at Centenary Health Centre.

 Notwithstanding the past cooperation between the two organizations, the issue of paid visitor parking at Seven Oaks is the most common area of dissatisfaction amongst family members of residents, and an area that generates a number of complaints to administration on a regular basis. Through its Family Committee (Family Circle), Home Advisory Committee, and staff efforts, the administration of Seven Oaks has attempted, over the last number of years, to find a satisfactory outcome that will result in the alternative way to provide parking to residents' families at a reasonable cost.

 Recently, the Family Circle, with the support of the Home's administration, presented another proposal for reduced parking to representatives of Centenary Health Centre. The proposal was accepted by Centenary Health Centre, with some revision, and the background and facts of the proposed solution are outlined in the remainder of this report.

 Comments:

 Current Parking Arrangements:

 Centenary Health Centre has made the "Shoniker Parking Lot" available to staff and visitors to Seven Oaks. This lot is located immediately south of Seven Oaks, and there is an accessible walkway from the parking lot to the Home. The lot is a controlled access lot which requires the use of an activated swipe card, or payment by use of a token system when exiting from the lot.

 Staff purchase quarterly parking passes for $65.55 from Centenary Health Centre. Seven Oaks assumes responsibility for sending out notices to staff, collecting the quarterly fees, and forwarding them to Centenary Health Centre. There are currently 117 staff from Seven Oaks Home for the Aged and Seven Oaks Children's Day Centre purchasing quarterly parking passes.

 Volunteers are provided with parking tokens by Seven Oaks on a gratis basis, upon presentation of the entrance ticket issued when they enter the lot. It is believed that the provision of parking is an appropriate way to recognize the significant contributions made to the Home by volunteers. By way of interest, the volunteers of Seven Oaks contributed approximately 11,000 hours of voluntary service in 1997. The cost of an individual token is $1.00, and the costs for volunteers' tokens is borne out of the Home's operating budget, at an approximate cost of $250.00 per year.

 Visitors to the Home currently have three (3) options with respect to parking:

 (1)attempting to access one of the eight (8) spaces available at the front entrance to the Home (one of which is designated as handicapped); visitors utilizing these spaces are expected to sign-in at the Seven Oaks switchboard, and display a parking pass on their windshield. Unfortunately, these spaces are often used by other than Seven Oaks visitors, by individuals who wish to take advantage of free parking rather than use the hospital's fee-for-service lots. This causes significant difficulty in families being able to access these spaces for pick-up and drop-off of residents.

 (2)purchasing a monthly pass for $44.00 from Centenary Health Centre and parking in the hospital lot immediately west of Seven Oaks. This allows visitors unlimited entrances and exits from the parking lot. As visitors purchase these passes directly from Centenary Health Centre, we do not have accurate information with respect to how many family members regularly take advantage of this option. Some of the family members at Seven Oaks have indicated that this option does not meet their needs, as they do not visit on a daily basis and therefore the monthly cost is not reasonable.

 (3)paying a $5.00 fee for parking at the Shoniker Parking Lot each time they enter and exit the lot. If families visit in excess of nine (9) times in a given month, this option is more costly than option number two.

 Although all applicants to the Home are advised prior to admission regarding the restricted parking, the lack of low cost parking remains one of the most common dissatisfiers amongst residents' families once admission has taken place. Families do understand that there are many other long-term care facilities which have similar restricted or no parking. Similarly, they are aware that a number of long-term care facilities offer their own paid parking; however, the rates of these facility-controlled lots are often less than the rates currently in place at Centenary Health Centre, and there is the understanding that the revenue from parking goes back to the Home, to support care and service for the residents. At Seven Oaks, families do not see a direct benefit to either themselves or the residents in the current parking arrangements.

 Possible Alternatives:

 There are few alternatives to the current parking arrangement, as the majority of the land adjacent to Seven Oaks is owned and controlled by Centenary Health Centre. As previously stated, the land immediately south of and west of the Seven Oaks site houses parking lots operated by the hospital.

 There is open field space immediately north of the Seven Oaks site, between the Home and Ellesmere Road. This land, if available for purchase or lease, could conceivably be converted to a parking lot. However, unless this lot was also a paid, controlled lot, it is likely that visitors other than those going to Seven Oaks would utilize this lot, as currently happens with the spaces immediately outside the front door of the Home. If the lot was established as a free lot for visitors of the Home only, it would be necessary to staff the lot, and this would increase the Home operating costs, at the same time as the Home is being required to reduce and rationalize direct resident care and service as a result of decreased provincial funding. This strategy was not seen, therefore, as a viable solution.

 There is little city-owned land associated with the Seven Oaks site; however, it might be possible to add approximately eight (8) spaces to the current parking area by eliminating the green space in front of the Home. This is an area that is immensely enjoyed by residents however and, therefore, this option was not pursued as the most desirable.

 The focus, therefore, in looking for alternatives to the current parking arrangement was to explore the possibility of securing reduced rate parking for visitors to Seven Oaks from Centenary Health Centre.

 Proposed Alternative:

 The Family Circle at Seven Oaks has done commendable work in looking at viable alternatives to the current parking arrangements, and working collaboratively with the staff of Seven Oaks and Centenary Health Centre to find a solution to the problem.

 The Family Circle conducted two (2) surveys with all current families associated with the Home, to gain an understanding of their level of frustration with the current parking arrangements, and to seek their input into options for change. Without question, the results of the surveys demonstrated that lack of reasonable cost parking is a great impediment to families who would like to visit on a more frequent basis. Families indicated their desire to visit more often to participate more directly in the care and daily lives of their loved ones, for example by assisting at mealtime, providing emotional support, participating in the Home's activities, and doing quiet visiting.

 The Family Circle recognized that, since all of the available land in the area is controlled by the hospital, the most logical solution was to secure a community partnership agreement with Centenary Health Centre. Representatives of the Family Circle and the Home's administration met with hospital representatives, over a period of time, and shared the results of the two surveys.

 The surveys, conducted in the spring and winter of 1997, focused on identifying the number of families that would be likely to utilize Centenary Health Centre's paid parking if a reduced rate was offered, and how many times a month they would be likely to visit. The surveys also proposed specific rates, in order to determine what rate was acceptable to most families. The results of the surveys indicated that there would likely be 684 (at a proposed rate of $2.50) to 890 (at a proposed rate of $1.00 to $2.00) visits per month. The majority of families who returned the surveys indicated strong support for the Family Circle's attempt to secure reduced rate parking on families' behalf.

 Based on the volumes indicated in these surveys, the Family Circle negotiated with the hospital and secured an agreement to provide parking at a rate of $2.50 per visit (when exiting after 5:00 P.M. during the week, and at all times on the weekends), which is half of the current rate charged in the Shoniker Parking Lot. On weekdays, prior to 5:00 P.M., the exit rate would be set at $4.40 per visit, which is a savings of $0.60 per visit. One of the main reasons for support of the after-hours reduced rate was that there are more visitors to Seven Oaks during these times, and the Shoniker Parking Lot is under-utilized during these hours.

 In order to operationalize this proposal, Centenary Health Centre would be required to install a new parking control system at the Shoniker Parking Lot, which would allow Seven Oaks visitors to use exit tickets purchased at a reduced rate of $2.50. The tickets would be sold in packages of 10 single use tickets; the tickets would be bar coded and good for one exit only with no expiry date. Seven Oaks would assume responsibility for the sale and monitoring of the tickets.

 One of the conditions made by Centenary Health Centre in agreeing to this proposal was that Seven Oaks would agree to have parking meters installed in the parking spaces at the front door of the Home. Centenary Health Centre would provide the meters, collect the revenue, have their security staff monitor them, and issue tickets on behalf of the City of Toronto Parking Authority as appropriate.

 The Family Circle's survey response indicates that the majority of families can support this action, if it results in reduced rate parking for longer visits. Centenary Health Centre has indicated that the meter rate that would be charged is $0.25 per fifteen (15) minutes.

 Seven Oaks administration supports the proposal as negotiated by the Family Circle. First, the reduced rate parking responds to the largest dissatisfier amongst families. Second, although the parking meters may result in some other dissatisfaction, they will help to control the misuse of these parking spaces by other than Seven Oaks visitors. Last, the meter rate set by Centenary Health Centre is reasonable and will accommodate the intended use of these spaces (i.e., pick-up and drop-off of residents of the Home and children attending the child care centre).

 The proposed arrangement has been discussed with representatives of the Children's Services Division, and they are in agreement with the proposal. Centenary Health Centre has indicated that their security staff would be reasonable in monitoring the metered spaces, particularly during the hours designated for child pick-up and drop-off.

 However, it is understood that the eight spaces at the front door to the Home are on city-owned land, and therefore it is not possible for another organization to operate a business on city-owned land without a license agreement with the city. Staff of the Homes for the Aged Division have discussed this issue with staff of the Legal Department and understand that a license agreement, which allows enforcement of the parking by-law would be required, and staff are recommending that this action be taken, in an attempt to improve the parking arrangement at Seven Oaks.

 Summary:

 Lack of reasonably priced parking has been a long standing frustration amongst family members of residents at Seven Oaks. Although there are other homes for the aged and nursing homes with paid parking arrangements, it is usual, in these circumstances, that the rate is less than that which has been paid by Seven Oaks families, and/or that the revenue from this paid parking goes back to the facility to benefit the facility's residents. This is not the case at Seven Oaks.

 Centenary Health Centre has worked collaboratively with Seven Oaks, on a number of projects, since the Home's opening, and has been cooperative in attempting to solve this problem in a manner that is fair to their own clients, and at the same time protects their revenue source at a time when hospitals, in general, are also realizing reduced funding.

 The proposal outlined in this report is not a perfect solution. However, staff believe that it is a reasonable compromise, given the funding issues facing both organizations and the personal issues facing residents' and patients' families.

 Staff of the Homes for the Aged Division are prepared to work with staff of the Legal Department to draft an agreement which is acceptable to Centenary Health Centre, protects the interests of the City of Toronto, and results in no cost to the City of Toronto.

 The efforts of the Family Circle of Seven Oaks, in finding a creative solution to a long standing problem, are particularly noteworthy and appreciated.

 Contact Name:

 Karen Wallace, Administrator, Seven Oaks Home for the Aged:

Tel: 392-3502; Fax: 392-3579; E-mail: karen_wallace@metrodesk.metrotor.on.ca