Parking Facility Lagging Far Behind Serdang Hospital S Rapid Expansion

---

 
A RECENT accident inside a multi-storey car park building that caused a sensation was reported in “HR-V crashes into parking wall of Serdang Hospital’s car park, nearly plunges to the ground”, and “Close call: Car dangles from 3rd floor of Serdang Hospital parking lot”.
While it was true that the car was balanced precariously with the front wheels in midair, it was not exactly dangling as described in the reports. Also, the reports stated that the car had suddenly skidded and crashed into the parking wall. But this does not make sense.Later, investigations found that the 38-year-old male driver, a heart patient, had experienced chest pain while driving, lost control of his vehicle, and crashed into the metal fence and part of the building’s concrete wall. The three passengers in the car sustained minor injuries.
If not for the collision, the car would probably be driven up all the way to the top floor before making an exit, as all the parking lots in the building are usually taken up. Not only that, the open car parks around Serdang Hospital are normally fully occupied or reserved for hospital’s staff.
Patients and visitors that arrive very early in the morning hoping to be there before others will be shocked as they drive up the ramp into the main road leading to the hospital. Vehicles would already be parked on both sides of the main road long before the traffic lights, and beyond.
The same is true after making a U-turn and one can keep driving and cannot find a gap on both sides of the road to park, even after reaching the South Klang Valley Expressway.
Many had to keep driving for a distance until they could turn back to Serdang Hospital and give another try.
Thanks to the understanding of the police, action is seldom taken, as the road where cars are parked on both sides is wide enough for vehicles to pass through easily. But sometimes, notifications of traffic offences are issued for obstructing traffic, which is not exactly true.
Granted, action ought to be taken if public or private parking facilities are available, but this is certainly not the case around Serdang Hospital. For example, I am willing to walk over a kilometre if such a facility is available, even though I am a heart patient in my mid-seventies.
I have tried many times to park inside the multi-storey car park but found it was always full. I have used e-hailing a few times but always had great difficulty in getting service out of Serdang Hospital. I will be there again on Feb 7 for a blood test and will be driving my car.
But I will be using e-hailing service on Feb 13 for a transoesophageal echocardiography and direct current cardioversion procedure, which requires overnight stay for observation.
Earlier in 2006, I was referred by Hospital Kuala Lumpur to Serdang Hospital, where I underwent my first angiogram in 2007, and the second in 2023. Twenty years ago, this government hospital was brand new and very impressive, much better than many private hospitals then.
But over the years, the number of patients seeking treatment at this hospital have increased by at least five times. Since it is not practical for cars to be driven up fifty stories even if one is constructed, several more multi-storey car parks need to be built but land and budget are scarce.
In December 2022, the Sultan Idris Shah Serdang Hospital Heart Centre was designated the national referral centre for complex heart cases. In May 2023, the entire hospital was renamed Sultan Idris Shah Serdang Hospital, after the current Selangor ruler.
It is a given that holistic treatment that may include physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and social health will help patients to recover quicker and better. Likewise, patients’ anxiety will be reduced if challenges such as transport and parking can be overcome.
YS Chan is master trainer for Mesra Malaysia and Travel and Tours Enhancement Course and an Asean Tourism Master Trainer. He is also a tourism and transport business consultant.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT. 
- Focus Malaysia.

---