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Hospital in Nouvelle-Aquitaine to make some parking spaces paid: how common is this in France?
The hospital said the measure will prevent long-term parking by non-hospital users
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A hospital in Nouvelle-Aquitaine is set to make some of its parking spaces paid for in an effort to free up spaces for patients and visitors.
The Centre Hospitalier de Brive in Corrèze is introducing paid parking at its oncology building and Parking B. The new system, including barriers and payment equipment, is due to come into operation from October.
Of the hospital's 646 parking spaces, 109 will become paid.
The first two hours will remain free, after which drivers will pay €0.40 for every 20 minutes.
“The car park is close to the town centre and is often used by local residents so there is also the aim of preventing cars from being left there for long periods,” Sandrine Berger, the hospital's general director, said to BFM TV.
She said the new system was intended to prevent what is known in France as voitures ventouses, meaning vehicles that remain parked for long periods, and make it easier for patients and visitors to find spaces close to the hospital's services.
Not an isolated case
Brive is not the first French hospital to introduce paid parking.
A 2023 question to the French Senate listed public hospitals in Nancy, Bordeaux, Caen, Lorient, Épinal, Cambrai, Le Mans, Amiens, Toulouse, Le Havre, Lyon, Avignon and La Roche-sur-Yon as having introduced paid parking for patients, families and, in some cases, staff.
In its response, the government said parking management is decided by individual hospitals according to their needs and financial circumstances.
It said hospitals can choose to keep parking free for a limited period before charging begins, while paid parking can help ensure vehicle turnover and prevent spaces being occupied “indefinitely or abusively”.
Prices and free periods also vary between hospitals.
At the CHU in Nîmes, for example, the Carémeau car park offers 30 minutes free before charging €3.30 for two hours, with a maximum of €13 for 12 hours. Another car park gives visitors an hour free, with a maximum charge of €6.70 for 12 hours.
At the CHRU in Nancy, patients and visitors get 60 minutes free before charges apply, with parking costing €3.40 for two hours and €7.20 for five hours.
The different tariffs mean that there is no single pricing system for paid hospital parking in France, with each hospital free to set their own charges.
However, this could change if a bill approved by MPs in January 2026 is passed by the Senate. The proposal would make parking free for patients and provide visitors with two hours free, followed by charges capped at €15 per day. It would apply to public hospitals only.
