Hilo Medical Center to swap parking lots

Hilo Medical Center will swap its employee parking lot with its patient and visitor lot beginning today.

The spaces located nearest the hospital, mauka of the facility, had long served as parking for employees, leaving patients and visitors to park in the paved and gravel lots across Waianuenue Avenue. The change was made to provide easier access for visitors, preventing them from having to cross traffic to enter and shortening the distance they must walk

A total of 117 stalls, with others reserved for mobility impaired people and volunteers, are now available to the public. Swapping the lots cost about $135,000, including construction of a lighted walkway providing direct access for pedestrians to the hospital’s main entrance.