Lakeridge Health Hospital Freeflow & Ticketless Parking

Lakeridge Health (LH) is a network of five hospital sites and a Long-Term Care Home across Durham Region located 30 minutes east of Toronto, Ontario. It operates four acute hospitals with emergency departments (Bowmanville, Oshawa, Port Perry, Ajax and Pickering), one specialty hospital with a regional mandate (Whitby) and various offsite locations. 

LH has 44 lanes of equipment. Ajax Pickering Parking Garage, with 532 parking spots, is the most used covered 5-level garage by hospital employees, visitors and doctors.

The Challenge

Each person needed to insert their ticket into a machine and wait until it was recognized as paid. 

Tickets often become lost, demagnetized due to equipment in the hospital, or had smeared barcodes due to the repeated use of hand sanitizer, resulting in increased manual intervention at the gates. 

This contributed to heavier traffic, particularly during peak patients' arrival times, and about 130 staff were changing shifts simultaneously.

The Solution

In September 2022, Survision's LPR cameras were implemented by Scheidt & Bachmann at Ajax and Pickering Hospital's garage. Initially, cameras were installed in a preliminary manner to assess their functionality before being deployed to four other locations.

Results

The new technology at Ajax Pickering Hospital's garage simplifies parking for patients and visitors, offering multiple benefits:

• Effortless Access: With fewer touchpoints and minimal manual assistance needed, individuals can easily enter and exit the garage by entering their license plate in the parking payment. 
• Problem Solving: The system resolves issues such as lost tickets, demagnetizing and barcode smudging, eliminating the need for manual payment processing at the parking office. 
• Enhanced Efficiency: During rush hours, such as hospital shift changes and patient arrivals, the touchless system ensures smoother traffic flow, reducing wait times for entering and exiting. 
• More comprehensive Application: The system's success has led to recommendations for its expansion across the hospital's parking facilities and beyond, contributing to improved parking experiences and operational efficiency. 
• Hands-free Solution: The system’s touch-free nature minimizes the spread of germs, which is particularly beneficial in hospital environments close to care centers. And (not forget to mention)  simple installation and smooth integration overall, all within 1 day.