Patients, visitors get free parking at UF&Shands

David S. Guzick, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Health Affairs and President, UF&Shands Health System

We are pleased to announce that as of Jan. 9., UF&Shands, the University of Florida Academic Health Center, will offer patients and their visitors free parking on our Gainesville campus.

Quality is Job 1 at UF&Shands, and convenient access is an important part of quality. In this spirit, free parking is an important step in our continued commitment to improve the patient experience at UF&Shands.

UF and Shands employees and their relatives already receive free parking when they are patients at a clinical practice on campus. This initiative extends that courtesy to all patients who come to our campus, and to relatives and other guests who come to visit them while they are in our care.

Patients and their visitors should pick up complimentary parking vouchers at their point of service and hand the voucher to the attendant on exiting the parking area.
UF&Shands parking areas that will be free for patients and their visitors are:

• Garage 10 (East), on the northeast corner of Archer Road and Newell Drive, (east of Shands at UF north campus)
• Levels 3 and 4 of the Garage 2 (West), on the northwest corner of Archer Road and Center Drive (west of Shands at UF north campus)
• Garage 3, adjacent to Wilmot Gardens, on the northwest corner of Archer Road and Center Drive
• Shands Cancer Hospital at UF surface lot off SW 13th Street
• UF Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine Institute surface lot on Hull Road at NW 34th Street

In addition, we continue to offer free valet patient parking at our emergency rooms, including Shands Critical Care Center at UF, Shands at UF Chest Pain E.R. and Shands Hospital for Children Pediatric E.R.

Faculty, staff and students should not park in visitor garages and lots unless they themselves are patients at the time.

Faculty and staff from other campuses, or others who come to UF&Shands, have a number of parking options:

• Park with our valet service.
• Secure a voucher from the department they are visiting.
• Faculty and staff can buy daily, weekly or monthly scratch-off parking decals from UF Transportation and Parking Services, 352-392-7275, www.parking.ufl.edu. Prices range from $3 to $5 per day, $15 to $25 per week and $35 to $60 per month, depending on the parking area. You can buy decals in advance and just scratch off the appropriate date when you need to park.

We discourage non-patient visitors from using the garages intended for patients and their visitors, as we wish to improve our patients’ experience. The above options are available to non-patient visitors, and if they park in the patient garages the fee will be $10.

UF and Shands faculty and staff working the night shift (7 p.m. to 7 a.m. or 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.) may park in the patient and visitor garages during the hours noted, space permitting.

We know you will have many questions about this new initiative and are putting together a devoted website with fact sheets and other useful resources. If you have immediate questions please call UF Transportation and Parking Services at 352-392-PARK or 352-392-7275.