Health-care workers positive about General Hospital parkade

Many health-care workers are giving a thumbs up to this week’s announcement on a new parkade at the Regina General Hospital, because it shows there is movement on the project.

On Monday, the province announced the structure would be put up in the northwest parking area. The government is now looking for a company to start the design, procurement and construction process.

Karly Simpson, a nurse in the neonatal unit at the hospital, said the announcement is a positive.

“It’s been something we’ve all been asking for for so, so long and it’s been necessary for everybody — staff, patients, visitors, whoever,” Simpson said Tuesday.

Parking has been an issue at the General Hospital for years, with little available parking in lots and only meters or two-hour parking in the immediate vicinity. Workers have said they pay huge tickets because they can’t move their vehicles.

Some have expressed concerns about the fact the parkade will be owned and operated by a third party, and not the Saskatchewan Health Authority. But that’s not really a concern for Simpson, who said they’re just thankful it’s going to be an option.

Depending on the cost, she said it could take away the option for some, but she had expected something like this would have a cost.

“I imagine it won’t be any worse than trying to park downtown or park at a mall or anything like that. So the fact that there’s an option is more than we (have) now,” said Simpson.

Concerns about parking have also extended to safety in the neighbourhood; people have complained of being harassed or followed as they walk to and from work at the hospital.

Jennifer Rosbrook was robbed a few years ago as she walked back to her car from a nursing shift at the hospital. She since has found a different parking situation, but said it’s still not a “super-safe” feeling.

“Something even closer and kind of in the vicinity of the parking lot would be great and would also diminish people’s need for parking on the street, which is a huge issue right now,” said Rosbrook, who works in the neonatal intensive care unit.

The neighbourhoods directly around the hospital are two-hour parking areas, with ticketing of vehicles in violation happening fairly frequently. Rosbrook said with many workers, they can’t just go out and move their vehicles.

“In my unit, we can’t just leave the babies. If a child is having a d sat (oxygen desaturation) or a bradycardia, or they have a callover — they have a staff call next door over in labour and birth — you can’t just drop everything and, ‘Oh sorry, I have to go move my car,’ ” she said.

Rosbrook said the parkade would be a nice solution to all those things, as long as it’s big enough and accessible to people who work the long 12-hour shifts.

She said some had thought the parkade wasn’t going to happen, but to hear there’s a prospective timeline is exciting.

More details

The provincial government is giving a few more details on what it expects from the parkade contract.

On Monday, its release said the parkade would be owned, maintained and operated by a private company. Now, it has explained the health authority would lease the parkade from the third party for 30 years and after that, the government will have the option to either buy the parkade or extend the lease.

Payment for parking will go to the health authority, but details like rates haven’t been worked out yet. The Ministry of Health said the government would control the rate, and the revenue from that would help offset the cost of construction.

There will also be opportunities in the parkade for commercial space, but any details around that will be figured out once a team for the design and build is secured.

The government said it will work with the health authority to make sure any proposed commercial space “aligns with their operational needs.”