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The new Dunedin Hospital is to have a new Dunedin Hospital car park.
Current plans for the $1.47 billion facility include 250 dedicated parks, a figure long criticised by many as inadequate.
The Southern District Health Board has heeded that call and will look for partners to invest in the development of a parking building.
Chief executive Chris Fleming said the facility would be for staff, patients and visitors.
‘‘Many hospital users require convenient parking, and we are pleased to be developing a solution for those people.’’
Exactly where the building will be, and what size, are yet to be decided.
There is a substantial amount of available land earmarked for future development on the blocks allocated for both the inpatient and outpatient buildings, and the SDHB also owns a parcel of land on Castle St which is already being used for parking.
Hospital planners had previously considered building below-ground parking in one or other of the planned new twin hospital buildings, but eventually ruled it out as not financially feasible due to flooding and soil contamination issues.
‘‘The additional new parking facility will meet the accessibility needs of many hospital users, and support the development of the health precinct,’’ Mr Fleming said.
The existing hospital has about 250 parks, a figure both staff and patients have decried as being insufficient for people with limited mobility to get into the buildings, or to provide safe parking for staff working night shifts.
Parking was also a vexed subject in the recent redevelopment of Christchurch Hospital, and in September last year the Government committed $14.25 million towards adding two storeys to an existing 238-space parking building and as a development contribution towards building a 450-park new facility in a joint venture with Ngai Tahu.
Mr Fleming said the proposed car park would support the travel and access of hospital users around the city.
The SDHB and the Dunedin City Council had developed a travel plan, which was intended to reduce road congestion.
The board and Ministry of Health are predicting that the use of telehealth, which increased markedly during the first Covid-19 Alert Level 4 lockdown, will continue to rise, a belief which has influenced both the plans for the hospital development and the expected demand for car parking.
‘‘The new hospital will also support flexible working, empowering those who can work off site without service disruption to do so,’’ Mr Fleming said.
‘‘We expect this will translate into reduced pressure on the roading network around the hospital during peak times.’’