Mélina Facchin (in Strasbourg), edited by Laura Laplaud / Photo credit: MARTIN BERTRAND / HANS LUCAS / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP 10:28am, May 30, 2023

It is a practice that has become more and more widespread in recent years and that raises questions: public hospitals make their parking pay. The bill is often very salty, sometimes several tens of euros for a day, whether you are patient or visitors. Europe 1 went to Strasbourg where the practice does not please everyone.

Caen, Lorient, Toulouse, Lyon or Avignon: over the past ten years, more and more hospitals have chosen to privatize their car parks. In Strasbourg, the practice does not please. After a free first half hour, which most visitors and patients exceed, the parking lot of this Strasbourg hospital quickly becomes very expensive. "For 3h56, I paid 6.30 euros," explains this Strasbourgeoise at the microphone of Europe 1.

>> Find Europe Matin in replay and podcast here

"We don't come shopping"

"We visited my grandmother who has been hospitalized for ten days now and we come quite regularly, so it's clear that the parking is quite expensive", "it's a hospital, it would be nice if it was free", "we do not come to shop", testify these visitors who preferred that access be free.

"There is a risk that this service will no longer be a public service type of service"

For his part, Frédéric Bizard, president of the Institut Santé deplores these unreasonable rates. "Companies like Indigo, Q-Park, Vinci are becoming the managers of this service of access to these hospitals, and therefore access to care. And so you may have a bill to pay that is unreasonable. We are at 6 euros per hour for some, 18 euros for two hours. And obviously, when you put a financial barrier on it, you run the risk that this service will no longer be a public service type of service," he explains. He also points out that this brings little money to hospitals.