Q: Aloha, what is the plan to resolve the terrible parking problem at the MMMC hospital emergency room? I cannot valet because of the many valuables I keep in my car. When will you restore adequate self-parking for the emergency room and is there a plan to build a new parking structure at the hospital?
Parking, or the shortage of parking, is one of the top issues we hear about at community town hall and employee forum events. We understand the importance of having convenient access to our hospital and addressing this concern is a priority for our leadership team. We are happy to confirm that we were finally able to start the long-awaited, but critical, parking study. The extensive study will help provide us the important data that we need to find both short- and long-term solutions to this issue. It is a long process involving a team of civil engineers and others, and includes data that we've compiled over the years, physical vehicle counts, and a comprehensive analysis of current parking inventory, as well as any potential new space that can be created. With this, our immediate goal is to re-assess existing space and maximize opportunities for creating additional parking within the areas that are currently available on our property. We hope to open at least 50 additional stalls in the next year. Unfortunately, a new parking structure is not financially feasible in 2019, but it will remain in our long-term plan for the next five to 10 years.