Employees asked to move from Capers to 25th Avenue Garage
Officials at Vanderbilt University Medical Center are currently considering options to remedy the ever-increasing demand for patient parking in Capers Garage.
With the opening of the new Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital later this year and additional volume at The Vanderbilt Clinic, larger numbers of patients and their families will be parking in Capers Garage. In line with VUMC’s credo, this will mean more faculty and staff members will be asked to park other places.
One solution is for employees to park in the 25th Avenue Garage. To encourage employees to voluntarily move from Capers to 25th Avenue, personnel currently paying $17.50 per month in Capers will be charged the same rate for the 25th Avenue Garage.
The $17.50 rate will no longer be available in Capers. The new rate in Capers will be $35 per month. The jump may seem extreme, but, according to Ken Browning, director of plant operations at VUMC, there has not been a parking rate increase at VUMC in 11 years.
“No one wants to pay more, but the cost of offering adequate parking for employees, patients and visitors has been steadily increasing over the years,” Browning said. “We are pleased to be able to offer employees who want to continue paying the same rate that option in the 25th Avenue Garage.”
Browning added that, while convenience for the patients and their families should be a primary consideration when thinking of parking at the Medical Center, “They (patients and families) are the reason we come to work every day,” he said. “We know for some employees that raising the parking rate can create a hardship. That is why it was so important for us to be able to offer the $17.50 monthly rate at the 25th Avenue Garage.”
Employees who choose to move to 25th Avenue and continue to pay the $17.50 per month can park on levels 4-8, with an XT permit. Those wishing to remain in Capers have the following options (as space permits):
• Permit P, primarily levels 4-7 — new rate of $35 per month
• Permit PR, open roof level — new rate of $15 per month
• Permit Y and W — new rate of $50 per month.
Staff who wish to register for Capers at the above rates may do so any time after July 1. Registration points will be set up at Capers from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the last week in July. All employees with PT permits will need to change their registration.
“These adjusted rates in Capers are still only slightly higher than before,” Browning said. “Our main goal is to get as many employees as possible to start parking in the 25th Avenue Garage.”
Rates in other areas, affecting a relatively small number of staff who currently pay $32.50 to $75 per month, will also increase a few dollars each month.
Rate changes will become effective Aug. 1, with payroll deductions that occur in August. Specific details on these increases will be announced later.