Parking will be at premium at the University Hospital of Northern B.C. for the rest of the winter.
Construction of the new Learning and Development Centre has forced Northern Health to block off 33 parking spots in front of the hospital, although some of those spots will come back into use once the building is completed in early 2015.
Once finished, the centre will provide a place for medical students, physicians and other medical professionals to upgrade their skills on site.
"This Learning and Development Centre is a critical part of the development of the teaching capacity in the north," Northern Health chief operating officer for the interior Michael McMillan said. "I think it will be a very significant contributor to recruitment and retention of professionals and the education of students in the north."
The loss of 33 parking spots will mean an already tight parking situation will get even tighter for the next few months, but Northern Health does plan to open up some new spaces on the Alward Street side of the facility when the deconstruction of the Nechako building is complete this summer.
"We actually had hoped that the parking lot would have been completed to the gravel stage before the winter, unfortunately the cold weather happened a little bit earlier and we couldn't completely take that building down and have it available for interim parking," McMillan said.
In the meantime, McMillan said Northern Health will keep a close eye on snow control so that more spaces aren't lost when the parking lot is cleared and staff have been reminded that the front parking lot is for visitors only.
"We're going to strictly enforce some of the parking regulations," McMillan said
Northern Health is also continuing to work with the city regarding longer term solutions to the parking crunch. McMillan said no decisions have been made, but one option being discussed is having angled parking on Edmonton Street to create more spaces.
