Hospital parking design depends on funds, land availability, says Nanta

MIRI (July 1): The government will consider adopting new design for public parking facilities at hospitals based on the needs and land available at their respective locations, said Works Minister Dato Sri Alexander Nanta Linggi.

As an example, he said an additional 900 car parking lots and 300 parking spaces for motorcycles were provided at the RM289.3-million Block B of Miri Hospital as it had ample land of 14 acres.

“The government will consider new design if the need arises, but there would be cost implications, and it would be more feasible to use conventional design if there is ample land available as the money could be used to provide state-of-the art facilities in that hospital,” he said.

He was asked on parking woes experienced at most urban hospitals in the country and whether the authorities planned to adopt other designs instead of the conventional open space approach.

Long lines of vehicles are often seen parked along road shoulders at hospitals, including in Miri, forcing patients or their loved ones to walk considerable distance to reach their respective clinics for treatment, prompting many to question the authorities for not providing sufficient parking facilities inside the hospital.

Many had pointed out that it would be more patient-friendly for the Ministry of Health to plan ahead by building multi-storey car parks to accommodate future needs due to population increase.

The minister is happy with the completion of the Block B building project of Miri Hospital ahead of time without any cost overruns.

The project was certified completed ahead of schedule by the contractor in April this year, and was handed over by Public Works Department to Ministry of Health today in a ceremony, witnessed by Nanta and Deputy Minister of Health Dato Lukanisman Awang Sauni.

The project which was done a design and build concept using Industrialized Building System (IBS) is a government initiative to increase the capacity and capability of Miri Hospital in providing quality health care services to residents of Miri and its surrounding areas.

Block B building has a capacity of 328 beds for all wards besides having main operation theatre (OT), maternity OT, intensive care unit, emergency unit, imaging department, specialist clinic and other facilities.

The site was handed over to the contractor on June 25, 2020 and the Completion Certificate (CPC) was issued to the contractor on April 28 this year.

Also present were newly-minted director-general of Public Works Department Datuk Ir Roslan Ismail, Sarawak Health director Dr Veronice Lugah, Miri hospital director Dr Jack Wong, Miri mayor Adam Yii Siew Sang and others.