Looking to give patients and visitors options beyond expensive hotels, more and more hospitals are offering RV hookups on site.
According to the Midland Reporter Telegram, when Josie Goeres came to Midland Memorial Hospital last month for a doctor’s appointment with her husband Chuck, the two parked their RV in a parking lot nearby so they could stay in it for the night instead of paying for a hotel. But when security approached her asked if they would be there for a few days, Goeres said she at first thought she was in trouble and would have to leave. Not at all, the guard told her. Instead, the hospital wanted to offer her a more convenient place to park — in the northeast parking lot with water and electricity hookups courtesy of the hospital.
“We live in the RV so this is our home,” she said. The Anchorage, Alaska, native travels the country selling stickers. “It was such a blessing.”
Eight days ago, Goeres said she and her husband were traveling in from Pecos for another appointment in Midland when her husband needed immediate care. In Monahans, he was taken by helicopter to MMH for pneumonia in his lungs and has been in the intensive care unit since.
She parked her RV in the same spot as last time and said the location near the hospital is convenient. “I like to be here closer to the hospital,” she said.
While the hospital has offered the service for the past decade, the number of available hookups increased from two to five with the recent completion of a new garage.
“We have patients who are from out of town or the region and would like to be close by the hospital to be able to visit their loved ones as often as possible. Instead of staying in a hotel, they have a place to stay, sleep and cook with all the convenient amenities right at their fingertips,” Vice President of Support Services Cory Edmondson said.
The hospital doesn’t charge for electricity or water and provides a dumpsite on campus for sewage and waste disposal. Security also monitors the RV area. People who use the hookups must check in first with the hospital and admissions to be validated.
Providing RV hookups isn’t new, Edmondson said. Hospitals around the country also provide the same service.
