Jim Weaver has had two major surgeries in the past decade: one to remove cancerous tumors from his bladder and another to clear a blocked artery.
Weaver, 70, knew that after he emerged from surgery, he’d want privacy. But because he and his wife drove more than 150 miles from Bend, Oregon, to Oregon Health & Science University Hospital in Portland, immediately returning home was not an option.
So, the couple brought their Escape 19 camping trailer, a small but comfortable home on wheels, and parked it in one of the hospital’s 17 on-site RV parking spaces.
“Leaving that hospital with the bandage, the scar, and the rest of it, there’s no way I wanted to be in a hotel,” he said. “Being able to go down and stay in the trailer there, jeez, it was so huge.”
Weaver was fortunate. OHSU Hospital, one of two Level I trauma centers in the state, is one of several medical centers in the United States that maintain parking spaces specifically for RVs, electric hookups included. The hospital has offered the free amenity to patients since 2009.
To read more from CBS News’ Christina Saint Louis, click here.