Bulli Hospital worker's car keyed on Hospital Road amid push for more parking

The vandalism comes amid ongoing disquiet over the issue in Bulli, where three extra patient wards were recently added.

Sue Phillips travels from Albion Park to work as a hospital assistant at the Bulli Hospital and Aged Care kitchen.

Night had fallen by the time she finished her shift on Wednesday, August 30. She noticed a white mark on the door of her car, parked on Hospital Road, but didn't see the extent of the damage until she stopped for petrol.

"They've actually gone from the front of my car all the way to the petrol tank, damaging all four panels," said Mrs Phillips, who has been told it will cost $3000 to repair.

"I just felt violated. I've saved up for such a long time for that car, and I am really upset that you can work so hard for something and someone just seems to think that it's OK to do that."

Mrs Phillips says she is almost always forced to park on Hospital Road, or further away, because there are far too few car parking spaces at the hospital for staff, and patients.

She said she couldn't make use of a staff shuttle bus - operating between Bulli Showground and the hospital - because the service ended at 5pm and her shift continued into the night.

She says she is certain her car wasn't blocking a resident's driveway or parked where it shouldn't have when it was targeted.

She has taken to leaving the hospital during her shift to move her car.

"I've done three shifts since it happened and I'm so anxious to park my car there that I ask my boss if I can go and move my car. Sometimes I'll get a spot in the staff car park. If not, I'll just try and move it as close as I can."

"There's approximately 18 car spots in the staff car park - that's it - for a 120-bed hospital."

"It's not even about staff. I've had to stop and offer elderly visitors a lift to the door of the hospital because there's no parking. Some of them have had to get checked [at the hospital] because their heart rate and blood pressure is up by the time they get there."

A residents' group - the Old Bulli Hospital Community Action Group - is trying to stop NSW Government developer Landcom from lodging a plan to build 50-70 homes on the old hospital site - across the road from the new site - while parking remains a problem at the new hospital.

The group says the old hospital had about 110 off-street car parking spaces for patients, visitors and staff, while the new larger one has 46 spaces.

Mrs Phillips said the problem had become worse recently, since Port Kembla patients were moved to the Bulli hospital.

"We went from a 60-bed hospital to a 120-bed hospital," she said.

Mrs Phillips remains grateful to operators of a local mobile refinishing service - Fix A Scratch, and Woonona Smash Repairs, who have partially repaired the scratch with buffing.