The car park situation at the Mother and Children’s Hospital in Kota Kinabalu.
KOTA KINABALU: Parti Bersatu Sabah Api-Api Division Information Chief Yee Tsai Yiew has urged the Federal Health Ministry and Sabah Health Department to address the severe shortage of parking spaces in government hospitals.
She said the shortage of hospital parking spaces has become a widespread problem due to the growing population and increasing medical needs.
The problem makes it difficult for patients and their families to find parking, especially during peak hours.
“They may have to spend a long time searching for a suitable parking space, which adds to their anxiety and inconvenience. Additionally, healthcare workers and other hospital staff also face the same issue, which may result in unnecessary delays and stress for them.”
Yee Tsai Yiew
She said recently a woman approached her with a complaint that she had to continuously circle the hospital vicinity due to the inability to find a parking space, causing a delay in her appointment.
The woman further expressed that many other patients are facing the same situation, which not only causes gross inconveniences to them but also leads to traffic congestion in and around the hospital area.
Yiew suggested the authorities reconsider increasing the number of parking spaces near hospitals.
“This can be achieved through expanding existing parking lots, constructing new parking structures, or collaborating with nearby commercial buildings to provide additional parking spaces.
“Furthermore, the hospital management can also redesign and reorganise the parking lots to make more efficient use of the existing spaces. This can be achieved by adding parking levels, redefining parking space sizes and redirecting traffic flow,” said Yiew, the former candidate for the Kota Kinabalu parliamentary seat from GRS in the previous general elections, in a statement today.
She added the hospital can also educate and encourage the public to utilise public transport whenever possible so that priority parking spaces can be given to the elderly and frail patients.
She also urged the hospital management to collaborate with the local authorities to undertake traffic planning and optimization, to ease the traffic conditions around the hospital.
She emphasised that addressing the shortage of parking spaces in hospitals can indirectly lead to improved efficiency and quality of hospital services.
