Vets say parking at local VA hospital makes it hard to get medical help

BOSTON — Parking is always a problem in Boston, but the last thing you need during an emergency is trouble putting your car somewhere.

Local veterans say the lack of parking availability at the West Roxbury VA Hospital is making it harder for them to get medical attention.

Ronald Santosucci, a Navy veteran, says that everytime he has an appointment at this VA hospital, he knows he needs to build in some extra time.

"This is a pretty long walk," said Santosucci. "Well, for an elderly person it is."

Parking at the hospital is so scarce that the 78-year-old veteran is often forced to park on the other side of the VFW Parkway, hundreds of yards away and almost out of sight of the hospital. In cold or rainy days, the walk is even worse.

"There was an elderly vet who was walking with his wife and they had to park there, too," said Santosucci. "They had to walk over here and navigate across VFW Parkway. They shouldn't have to do that."

The VA Hospital has more than 1,000 parking spaces, all on a first come, first serve basis. Out of the 1,000 spots, 100 are reserved for veterans, but when the hospital is busy, with more than 16,000 pending appointments as of Sept. 15, it's nearly impossible to find a spot.

When Boston 25 News visited the hospital's parking lot on Wednesday, cars were parked along yellow lines, near a "No Parking" sign.

Bob Roppolo, a 71-year-old Vitenam vet from Boston says he loves the hospital, but the parking lot needs some work.

"It's a great hospital, a 5-star hospital," said Roppolo. "I'm very comfortable here, but the parking, it is an issue. I may drive for 15 or 20 minutes in this lot right here and I'll park sometimes where it says no parking."

While the hospital said they have plans to build a parking garage, a spokesperson couldn't tell Boston 25 News when that project will begin. Santosucci says that doesn't give him a lot of hope.

"They've been talking about building a garage, but talk is cheap," said Santosucci.

The hospital sent us a statement, saying in part:

"We welcome feedback from our Veterans and hear what they have to say; then make improvements. 
The new parking garage is one example of taking Veteran feedback and acting on it to improve their experience."

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