Social worker Cathy Hansen says she doesn't believe her dialysis patients using the J. Edward Hutchinson garage as a drop-off point should have to pay a $1 parking fee.
Hansen said Tuesday that the taxis are in the garage no longer than 10 minutes and are taking the patients -- many with walking limitations -- to a door that gives them easier access to Fresenius Medical Care, better known as Greensburg Dialysis, in the Medical Arts Building.
"I think it's outrageous," Hansen, who works for Fresenius, said of the parking fee.
Greensburg officials said they are studying the parking issue and have waived the fee for now.
"The city administrator is looking at that," Mayor Karl Eisaman said. "We're doing a 30-day study on the number of patients taken to the parking garage."
He said the review also might look at how long the taxis are in the garage, located across Shearer Street from Excela Westmoreland Hospital.
City Administrator Sue Trout said the study's outcome could result in Fresenius, a private company, or Dr. Nawaf I. Nseir, who oversees the local facility, being assessed the patient parking costs.
"We realized that (Nseir) was paying for a pass card for his employees only," Trout said of a review of money being paid for parking. She said that a fee probably should have been assessed years ago for his patients.
"It was a misunderstanding about how they were being charged," Trout said. "And that's what we're trying to clean up."
Nseir didn't return phone calls last night seeking comment.
"We're not parking," said Maryann Humberger, general manager for Yellow Cab of Greensburg. "We're dropping them off or picking patients up and driving out."
Though the fee currently isn't being assessed, Trout said, city officials may decide to seek payment back to Sunday, when original plans called for the fee to take effect.
Eisaman said preliminary figures showed about 12 people were using taxis and the garage to go for dialysis three times per week.
Hansen believes the number could be a little higher.
She said the garage door represents the best access.
"Most of the patients are frail and have difficulty walking," she said. "It's not safe for them to walk longer distances."
Hansen said she favors practically anyone but the patients footing the parking tab.
"If that's the way it has to be," she said of Fresenius or Nseir forking over the cost, "that's what we'll do. We're looking out for the safety of our patients."
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